Category Archives: Patchogue Ospreys

Monday in Bird World

10 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Thoreau, Walden, 58).

The Girls and I are revisiting Thoreau’s Walden – I learn something every time I read this book! Mostly, it cements in me how fortunate we are if we can spend time with the trees, the animals living in the wild, even nature in our own gardens.

I hope that you had a really good weekend and found some time to spend with friends, family, or outside—or all three! We worked in the garden and are sore from the tips of our toes to the top of our heads. The heat and rain have caused everything to grow out of control! So far there has been no rain so it was a good day since everything is drying out. I would love to send this rain to places that are running out of water. It is frightening because there are not only implications for humans but also wildlife.

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Two things to put a smile on your face today. The first comes from ‘T’. Watch ‘the cobra’ attack the Imperial Eagle. Then laugh. (Valid made the video and Rinur posted it).

The second comes from Missey and Hugo Yugo, who adore one another. When Missey lost her best friend Lewis last year, she was the saddest cat. Then Hugo Yugo came into her life and she took over the motherly duties the little ginger cat was longing for. Like Calico and Hope, these two are inseparable.

TWO Great Questions from the InBox:

Question 1. ‘NF’ asks: “Have a question…we had eaglets double fledge 6/7 in Kansas. Do you have any knowledge of that happening before? Many questions about that. Thanks in advance & keep up the good work!!”

Sadly, my data forms are for Ospreys but I could recall instances of eagles fledging close together, but not specifics. Thankfully, Elfruler came through and ‘NF’ sent me their response. I thought some of you might also be wondering. “Hi, Nina, it was fun watching your 2 juveniles take off yesterday!  Yes, there are several records of 2 juveniles fledging on the same day.  In recent years:

Maryland Port Tobacco, 6/4/23, three eaglets fledged on June 4, the first at 6:18, the second shortly after that (cam down, time uncertain), the third accidentally fell at 7:09.

Ohio Avon Lake, 7/7/22, one at about 6:22, the other at about 7:21.

Oklahoma Bartlesville 6/10/22, one at about 15:21, the other at 15:28.

Pittsburg Hays 6/10/22, one at 7:20, the other at 7:50.

Ohio Ashtabula, 6/24/20, one at 6:43, the other at 12:43.

British Columbia Surrey Reserve, 6/28/20, one at 8:15, the other at 10:18.

There are more in my spreadsheets, I’ve just searched the last few years, but from these you can see that it does happen.

Best to you,

-elf”

Question 2. From ‘PB”. “I saw your update on Seaside and #3 passed due to a wind/hail storm…but I watched their in memoriam video of #3 and they showed the storm so how did the little baby pass when under mom? Was it more lack of food?”

Yes, the little one was well protected by Mum. The death was not caused by anything human or by siblicide but was starvation and/or illness caused by a weather-related event. The storm was a mitigating factor in the chick not having enough food and also they get these terrible respiratory illnesses from the cold and damp. We won’t know precisely which it was.

If you missed it, Treasure at the West End nest of Akecheta and Thunder fledged on Saturday. Lady Hawks’ video shows the whole event clearing up many questions. Treasure is on a steep hill and has not been seen eating. Is this a place where the eaglet can get its footing to fly off? More questions than answers. The latest information is that Treasure is on a cliff face near the old nest.

‘B’ reports that Sterling has fledged on Sunday so all three of Akecheta and Thunder’s eaglets this year have taken their first flights.

Hats off to Dylan at Llyn Clywedog – he brought two HUGE trout (along with other fish) to the nest for Seren and chicks on Sunday. My goodness, gracious. Dylan does love his trout and if you don’t know, they stock the Clywedog Reservoir with 45,000 fish annually!

Dr Green just posted the following information as we are now on pip/hatch watch for the first egg at Iris and Finnegan’s nest.

I don’t know about you, but I am sitting on the edge of my chair in anticipation. I never thought Iris would have another devoted mate like Stanley.

Port Lincoln reports that Calypso and his new mate are checking out the Tulsa Platform. Could Mum and Dad be grandparents this year??? Things are beginning to heat up in Australia!

Little Mini right up at the beak for that fish dinner at Field Farm. One determined little osplet. This will certainly help with its survival. Don’t you just love these vivacious fourth hatches? They have to be clever and determined. Remember: It is only about 1 out of 100 fourth hatches that survive. Looks like Field Farm and Poole Harbour are going to be survivors if things continue as they are. Other nests are in trouble.

It rained some more. Each time there was a feeding Little Mini is there. No problems that I can see other than its size. The other three are rather ‘chill’ compared to many nests.

At Poole Harbour, Little Mini is right there. Sadly, Blue 022 has a love for black bin liners. I wish he didn’t bring them to the nest.

Two chicks for the WDNU Tower in 2024.

Two surviving chicks at Seaside.

The trio at the Salt Point Osprey Platform are all thriving. Do you know this nest at Cayuga Lake in Upstate New York? It is the home of Orpheus and Ursula. Here is some information provided by the Lansing Parks and Recreation Department.

“This nest was built by Orpheus in 2013, and with his two mates Ophelia (2013–2022) and Ursula (2022–current), they have reared many healthy fledglings over the years. The nest is ideally located within the Salt Point Natural Area in Lansing, NY, at the confluence of Salmon Creek, a fast-flowing trout stream, and fish-rich Cayuga Lake. Orpheus and his mate continually tend their nest built atop a 55′ dedicated nesting platform with a spectacular 360º view—and protection against marauding great-horned owls. This nest camera is a solar-powered camera operating in one of the cloudiest areas in the USA. After a streak of consecutive overcast or stormy days, the batteries drain and the recording may stop. After a few hours of sunshine, all will return to normal. High winds may also cause noise from the camera housing.”

Here is the link to their streaming cam. These chicks are doing fantastic.

Three at Pitkin County Open Trails and Spaces are doing well. We can just see the tops of their heads!

‘H’ sends in the reports for the nests she is monitoring:

“6/9, Forsythe NJ osprey nest:  This nest has become very unsettled and dangerous.  The nest dynamics continue to evolve for the worse.  The oldest of the four osplets, Big1, has become very aggressive and controlling.  Before today, Little3 was the primary aggressor, and would take out its hunger-frustration on Mini4.  Today, Big1 was beaking all of its siblings.  Every time LIttle3 would beak Mini4, Big1 would beak Little3.  But, several times at each meal, Big1 would beak all of them, including Middle2, so that Big1 would be the only one eating.  Quite often that would set off Middle2, and Middle2 would beak everyone.  There were six meals today.  Middle2 managed to make out okay simply because of its size.  Middle2 was able to position itself further away from Big1 at feedings, and still be able to reach Opal’s beak.  Neither Mini4 nor Little3 had very much to eat yesterday, as Little3 would keep Mini4 from eating, and Big1 would keep Little3 from eating.  Today, I counted fish bites for both Little3 and Mini4.  Mini4 ate a total of 36 bites of fish today, and Little3 ate a total of 17 bites of fish.  There is not enough fish being brought to this nest for three osplets undergoing a growth spurt, much less four osplets.  It’s going to take  A LOT MORE FISH.  This is very sad.”

6/9, Patuxent River Park osprey nest:  It was a good day for this nest.  There were “only” three fish and feedings, but a couple of the meals lasted so long, they should be counted as two meals.  The first fish at 0749 was a large live catfish, and that fish flipped and flopped all over the place.  No one was hurt, and I think the kids were mildly entertained, lol.  That meal lasted for 95 minutes.  Little still does get beaked and intimidated once in a while, but Little has learned to mitigate those occurrences.  S/he simply stays away from Mom in the early phase of a meal, so as not to incur the wrath of Big.  Little waited until about 0830 and then worked his way to the other side of Mom and she began to include her youngest in the feeding.  After a while Little had a bit of a private feeding, and had eaten a total of 80 bites of fish.  When Mom had given up on picking at the catfish skull, Dad moved on over, picked up the skull and pulled off 30 additional bits of meat for Little.  What a cool Dad.  The fish at 1118 was a small headless fish, and the meal lasted 10 minutes.  Big and Middle were not very hungry, and Little ate 55 bites of fish.  The last fish of the day at 1458 was a huge whole fish, that provided for another 95 minute feeding.  Little had a few separate private feedings and ate for a total of 30 minutes. 

Dahlgren osprey nest:  Being first-time parents, the new couple, Helen and Doug, continue to work out some issues with parenting.  There is a learning curve of course, and they are getting better.  Their single osplet is 8 days old, and is looking good…nice and plump!

Fortis Exshaw osprey nest:  Louise and her new mate Harvie are expecting their first baby at any time.  Louise laid three eggs, but we’ve never seen three eggs at one time in that deep egg cup.  All the best to them!

South Cape May Meadows osprey nest:  On 6/8 a crow destroyed one egg, and pecked at another.  We believe that there is still at least one viable egg remaining.  From the nature of the contents of the destroyed egg, we believe that egg was definitely not egg #1, and was more likely egg #3 (not positive, though).  Eggs #1 and 2 would be 38 and 35 days on 6/10.  We are hoping for a hatch for Hera and Zeus.

Fenwick Island, Delaware osprey nest, at Captain Mac’s Fish House:  Johnny and June’s first two eggs were destroyed by crows.  Eggs 3 and 4 remain, and we are on pip watch!

Osoyoos osprey nest:  Soo and Ollie’s two little bobs are doing great.  The third egg is 36 days old on 6/10.

McEuen Park osprey nest: They have three little hatchlings that hatched sometime between 6/4 and 6/8, with one egg remaining.  There is no rewind for that cam, so it was difficult to find a view when the parents were not ‘incu-brooding’.

If you were following Chance, the Red-tailed Hawk that went to an eagle’s nest for dinner and got adopted, you might know that it fell from the nest. Chance is near-fledging. Chance was rescued and is in a wildlife facility. This is the latest from the photographer covering the story, Jann Nichols.

‘PB’ writes that Smallie has been seen and photographed – see image below – but there is no confirmation that the eyas has had any food since being returned after its fall.

Big siblings on the grate.

One of the chicks, the eldest, wasn’t looking good to me at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It seems to have rallied a bit. I do wish this Mum would spend less time eating fish and more time feeding her chicks. That is precisely how we lost the chicks last year! Send good energy to this nest!

‘MP’ has been watching and counting. He says, “I counted her eating five bites to one she attempts to give one chick but if they don’t take it immediately she retreats with it and eats it herself. One chick keeps rolling on their back.” MP continues, “The male appears to be bringing bigger fish maybe so she will have enough for her and the chicks? He does stand there and watch which I’ve never seen other males intently watch the feeding. My take is he’s seeing if she feeds them at all. It is hard to watch not knowing if you are watching the makings of mental illness on a nest of innocent babies leading to their death.”

This is the oldest chick that keeps going over. I fear that the babies are dehydrated. Mum leaves them exposed and the little things cannot regulate their temperature. It is very hot at times and they need many feedings, lots of little bites throughout the day to keep them healthy. So very, very sad. We have seen this same behaviour in Hope at the Snow Lane nest consistently. I once queried an old hand at osprey behaviour about mental illness and our discussions wound up around the theme of how chicks learn. We know that they have instincts and we also know that they copy parental behaviour. That is how they learn. We know that some osprey nests are simply better than others. The environment is richer with fish. The parents are more attentive. Did this female as well as Hope come from nests where the female neglected her chicks? or where there was a drought and the chicks suffered? We will never know the answer to that question because the birds are not ringed and we cannot track their history.

Let us hope that this nest has a turn around.

This was earlier.

Later:

Three eggs visible at the nest of Hope and Beau in Newfoundland at Snow Lane.

Two cutie pies at the Sandpoint Osprey platform. Looks like we have one egg that could be a DNH. We wait. These two are only two days old.

Trio at Great Bay doing fantastic, too. Is it my imagination or are the inland nests doing better this year in terms of survival rates? In my data forms, we have regions such as North America, UK, Europe, etc but we do not have North America divided up by regions. That might prove helpful in the future.

Patchogue osplets are doing very well despite the nest being full of garbage – the plague of being a nest in an urban environment.

Three beautiful babies at the Dyfi nest in Wales enjoying a fish dinner in the drizzle.

Three little ones at Bridge Golf being fed. Fingers crossed.

Two eaglets – still – at the Eastern Imperial Eagle nest in RU.

Still seeing two at the Estonian Golden Eagle nest.

Fledge feels eminent at the Cornell RTH nest of the Ns – two hawlets of Big Red and Arthur. Both have been flapping and jumping from one end of the nest to the other. Arthur has been busy bringing in prey close together to try and stop them from flying today.

Oren and Ruth’s two hawklets (one died) are preparing to fledge form their nest at Syracuse University, too.

Cal Falcon fledglings visiting the tower.

Many of you are travelling to see osprey. For the next couple of days I will be including images. Today is from Mobile Bay and tomorrow will be Rutland. ‘L’ had a lovely tour of the Alabama and Florida coasts and sent some images of Ospreys on their platforms and fishing that she saw and took with her phone for us. Thanks, ‘L’.

Some great news coming in late. One of two chicks fathered by 4K at Belvoir Castle near where I lived in the UK has been photographed in the UK on his return as a two-year-old. 4K was the subject of a book, If You Build It, He Will Come. He was also the focal osprey for Sacha Dench’s first round of Flight of the Osprey. Blue 4K is a mature male Osprey from Belvoir Castle, Rutland, hatched in 2013 and satellite-tagged in 2018. I wondered how he had died and Geemeff gave me the following information months ago, “Blue 4K’s tracker showed him in Guinea setting off north, then stopped transmitting. The tracker was fitted in 2018 so was coming to the end of its service anyway, therefore we just expected to see him back at his nest a month or so later. But after weeks went by, it was clear he wouldn’t be returning, and Simon has assumed he died in Guinea when the transmissions stopped. But of course, we don’t know.”

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care. We hope to see you again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, questions, photographs, comments, videos, articles, tweets, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, H, J, L, MP, NF, PB, TU’, Thoreau, CounterPunch, Elfruler, Lady Hawk, Llyn Clywedog Osprey Cam, Montana Osprey Project, Port Lincoln Ospreys, Field Farm, BoPH, WDNU, Seaside Ospresy, Salt Point Ospreys, Pitkin County, Jann Nichols Photography, isamersfoort.pl, MN Landscape Arboretum, Newfoundland Power, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, Dyfi Osprey Project, Bridge Golf Club, Imperial Eagle RU, Eagle Club of Estonia, Forsythe Ospreys, Patuxent River Park, Fortis Exshaw, Dahlgren Ospreys, SCMM, McEuen Park, Osoyoos Osprey Cam, and Fenwick Park Ospreys, Cornell RTH Cam, SU-RTH Cam, and Cal Falcon Cam.

Saturday in Bird World

1 June 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

It is bright and sunny and nearing 1800 on the Canadian Prairies. We had a lovely brunch with the entire family on the deck with warm sunshine blessing all of us. The grandson is on his way back home to Ottawa. Son is heading north to go fishing, and we will be going to check on the eagles at Hecla Island in the coming weeks – not sure when. It was lovely to see everyone. We will have a bit of a break and then the third round – looking forward. Most everyone lives at a distance so these times together are very precious.

The cats have come out of hiding. Well, Hugo Yugo and Missey like company. Calico and Baby Hope don’t. They are all sleeping. Worn out by the excitement! The rain has made the garden really lush. The European Starlings seem to have taken over the area. Mr Crow comes for his cheesy dogs and then they fly in – at least 8 or 10 of them. They have nest in the garden and I think they just don’t want to risk the Crows predating their chicks. Mr Grackle came for a nice bath today and there have been quite a number of House Finches flittering about. No more Baltimore Orioles. The homing bird feeder is up but I have not seen any visitors.

My Girls wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Visiting. One day we did get in quite a nice walk but most of the time it is good food and lots of conversation, catching up. My legs needed to move and it was off this evening early to count the goslings and ducklings at the park. 68 goslings!

Richmond and Rosie had their first hatch on Friday the 31st of May! Yeah. We have all been waiting for our SF Whitley Crane couple on their new light post nest to start their family.

In Montana, Iris and Finnegan are doing well. Gosh, aren’t you getting excited? We might get to see Iris raise a chick. Seriously, I would. be happy if there was only one healthy one. That would not wear her out. The females, as you know, are known to lose 30% of their body weight during incubation and raising chicks. Mind you, Finnegan is one good provider for Rosie. We haven’t had to worry about her. Finnegan believes his first egg was laid on 5 May. That means that we are at 27 days. Hatch watch 10 June.

Continued good thoughts, please, for Lake Murray. I checked and there are no strobes on at the time I am writing at Lake Murray. Oh, goodness. Why?

Mum was on the perch and at 23:01 she flies off and then returns to the nest where she stays with Middle. Did she hear the owl? or was it the woman walking under the nest pulling something – lights? The strobes went on by 2308. Thank goodness.

Beautiful fledglings at Venice Golf Course. With 26 areas to get fish, this couple once again pulled off a nice healthy trio of chicks to fledge.

MNSA trio looking good.

Looking Bleak. Concerns grow for Little at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home. He has had less than 20 bites of food, some scraps Mum found, on Friday. Not looking good. Be cautious if you are watching this nest. Sadly this baby will probably not make it through the weekend, if that long. Starvation is terrible thing. If only the ospreys had one or two chicks. If only.

Prove me wrong. OR maybe. Put some fish on that nest or near it for this family. Do a Port Lincoln and help out!!!!!!!

We are on fledge watch for Cal Falcons! Can you believe it?

CJ7 and Blue 022 have a nest full – the fourth chick hatched on Friday and they are going to be very, very busy. How many still remember when CJ7 didn’t have a mate and she met Blue 022? They ‘romanced’ all over Poole Harbour! This is wonderful. Send good thoughts to the little one.

We all wish Jack and Diane the very best. They need to go and find fish and get their health back to a good state. The nest has its predator baffles thanks to Tampa Bay Raptor Centre – we wait for another year.

At Boulder, the chick, the Only Bob, is cheeping away for fish and at another time Dad wants Mum to feed him, too.

They are all reptiles with big crops at Radford University. Little Bob looks good today!

The camera at Cowlitz PUD is beyond frustrating. We know there are chicks. Once in awhile you can see a little head. Hope those fish grates prove that are the most reliable predator deterrent (for GHOs and eagles) for our ospreys.

If you use the overhead cam at Cowlitz, you will see that there are three osplets. One is so tiny. I am already worried.

The Only Bob at Clark PUD is one lucky osplet.

Field Farm seems to be holding its own with its trio of hungry beaks.

Fledglings still visiting the Frenchman’s Creek nest for fish.

Great Bay – has three Bobs – and so far, so good. Big Bob is in the reptile state while Little Bob still has fluffy down.

The two chicks at Patchogue are getting their feathers. Gosh, don’t you wonder what Little Mini is up to? I sure hope she survived – certainly deserved to!

The camera at Collins Marsh is almost as bad as what my mind tells me water torture would be. There is at least one little bobblehead (new) on that nest. Why do their heads have to look like an egg on these poor resolution cameras?

Flopping fish at Loch Arkaig. Who cares when you have three Bobs in the nest and they are all hungry for a fish dinner?!

When I say – which I often do – that I wish each osprey nest would have one really healthy chick. This is what I mean. Only Bob at Rutland Water is transitioning out of the Reptile Phase – just look at that beautiful copper plumage on the back of the head – into getting its juvenile plumage. Only Bob is getting the best of the fish, not the skin, as many of the later hatches in dubious nests have to eat. It is understood that some fish are more beneficial and that others and only getting inferior parts of prey (this would also include other raptors) does not provide the high quality nutrition that all need. Maya and Blue 33’s only chick this year has the best of everything. Oh, goodness. We wish this for all the nests, but sadly, many struggle like the Little Bob at Maryland Western Shore.

Can you see Only Bob’s bursting at the seams crop?

At Goitzsche-Wildnis, Dad was feeding Mum. Osplets really growing. They have a Little Bob, too. Fingers crossed for all the ‘Littles’.

Betsy and Frederick’s two osplets appear to be doing alright.

Oh, goodness. There is a lot of flapping and hopping going on at the Cornell RTH nest of Big Red and Arthur. The Ns will fledge this month…too soon.

The strobes were not on when I checked Lake Murray. Hopefully someone will hit the switch or we could lose Middle Bob tonight. I am not saying strobes are 100% effective against predation. I believe the fish grate protectors are. I wish we could all go and make a lot of noise under this nest until such time as Middle Bob migrates!

May’s Ventana Condor Chat.

Monty and Hartley will be giving flying demonstrations to their Fab Four showing them what to expect when they spread their wings and dare to jump off the ledge.

We are on fledge watch at Cal Falcons…did I say that earlier? Look at the difference in plumage between the San Jose chicks and Cal Falcons – there is a week in age difference. Cal Falcons older.

‘J’ writes: “What a surprise when I checked the Cal chicks. They went from fluffy to falcon within two days! Gosh, were they cute in their woollen jackets. I’m keeping Archie in my thoughts, I really want him to be Annie’s forever partner. Did you see this video? It made me laugh so hard. That look: “what?!” You could write many memes for this video, so many expressions on those lovely faces.”

Adult in the scrape with the only falcon chick at Evergy Energy in Kansas.

Lots of prey on the nest of the Russian Imperial Eagles – and still two little fluffy white chicks. They raised two in 2023. Maybe again this year. Abundant prey is the key.

There are two of the most precious little bobbleheads in the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. Wish for lots and lots of prey. Would love to see these nests be the exception to the norm of the oldest killing the second hatch! Wouldn’t that just warm our hearts from the losses at the osprey nests?

‘H’ reports: “The Captiva osprey family is doing very well.  Jack and Edie have been able to deliver plenty of fish.  Ding is 39 days old, and Darling is 37 days old.”

“Patuxent ospreys:  The osplets were 24, 23, and 20 days of age on 5/31.  At 0535 Dad delivered a ‘whale’ of a fish, that would last three meals.  The older and aggressive siblings actually ‘allowed’ Little to eat.  Little ate 98 bites of fish and had turned away from Mom by the time Dad removed a huge leftover.  Dad returned with the fish at 0922.  Little had a private feeding from 1019 to 1053, and ate 181 bites of fish!  Mom fed the large fish tail portion at 1118 and Little had an additional 30 bites of fish.  There were two additional fish brought to the nest at 1646 and 1721.  Little did not eat at those meals, but he did not seem hungry, and didn’t really try very hard to get to the table.  Little ate at least 309 bites of fish today.”

‘H’ loves Tuffy and Ruffie – and she wanted to add a photo of the two of them today. Thanks, ‘H’.

Just look at that face on our little Tuffy.

‘A’ checks on Smallie for us: “Check out Smallie a few minutes ago (from 11:05:43), when a sister allows him to grab a huge chunk of food from outside the scrape and pull it inside, where he then fights first her, then another sister who joins them, for his share of the food. With one sister holding it down, Smallie is able to self-feed with significant success, and then grabs at the food during a three-way tug of prey. 

My concern is that all three of the sisters are now spending a lot of time outside the scrape, where the food is being delivered. If Smallie joins the scrum out there, he is in danger of falling – the others are probably able to glide to the ground if they fall, with at least two of them looking ready to fledge, with virtually no fluff left. I am worried, though, that if he doesn’t get outside to eat, there won’t be food inside for him. So unless he can grab food from inside the scrape (which he did manage to do this morning), he will have problems. 

At least there is no chance that his sisters will mistake him for a meal – he is way too aggressive for that, and I’m sure at least one of his sisters is fairly wary of him. But he is determined to eat, and I suspect he will find a way to survive no matter what that takes. He is a very brave little falcon. Just adorable.”

Middle is still alive at Lake Murray. Relief. The lights held him off or some larger prey. Thank goodness.

Thank you so very much for being with me today. Please have a wonderful weekend. Spend some time away from the screens worrying – go outside and smell the fresh air and listen to some birds. We hope to see you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, videos, streaming cams, images, and articles that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, J’, Montana Osprey Project, , VGCCO, MNSA, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Cal Falcons, BoPH, Achieva Credit Union, Boulder County, Radford University, Cowlitz PUD, Clark PUD, Field Farm, Frenchman’s Creek, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, Collins Marsh, Geemeff, LRWT, Goitzsche-Wildnis, OBX 24/7, Cornell RTH, Ventana Wildlife Condor Chat, SK Hideaways, Evergy Energy, Imperial Eagle Cam RU, the Eagle Club of Estonia, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Moorings Park, Amersfoort Falcons.

Wednesday in Bird World

29 May 2024

Hello Everyone!

Oh, it is cloudy. The sun wants so much to come out and the thick clouds just won’t let it. The Crows and the Starlings are having their cheesy dogs, Chinese chicken balls, and pizza (the latter additions from neighbours) for their breakfast. Little Red is scurrying to get as many peanuts as he can before the Blue Jays grab them all. I haven’t seen Dyson yet but she will be around. It just feels like another day of icky drizzle or rain…and then the sun come out and it was lovely. Still too much to do in the garden!

I promised photos of ‘The Girls’ and I even have one of ‘The Boyfriend’ eating Mr Crow’s cheesy dogs!

Did I tell you that everyone wants a turn in the basket?

Can you find the bee? The first one I have seen this year. The lilacs are simply loaded with flowers! I wish I could send each of you some of them.

The feral cats have a rough life. The Boyfriend is all beaten up. He will not accept coming into the house, so we continue to make sure that he is fed along with his look-alike.

Speaking of rain, it is coming down in Wales at the nest of Idris and Telyn. When Mum took a refresher break, the trio cuddled right up to try and stay warm. They cannot regulate their own temperature yet.

Rain is coming down on the Glaslyn nest of Aran and Elen and their little hatch. Did I tell you that I really dislike the wet cooler days in Wales on these nests for fear the little ones will get a chill?

Raining at Llyn Clywedog for Seren and Dylan and their trio. Look at them lined up wanting fish. Come on Little Bob!

It is better at Rutland for Maya, Blue 33, and Only Bob who is now getting some nice little pin feathers.

Harry is keeping the pantry filled for Flora and their triplets up at Alyth SS. It is all good. Harry is a really great provider.

Another trio lined up for fresh fish at Loch Arkaig. Louis is keeping the pantry full, too.

Trying to establish the pecking order!

Did I fail to tell you how cute little osplets are? CJ7 and Blue 022’s are darlings.

A little crowded at feeding time but everything appears to be A-OK at Radford University with their three osplets.

All three had breakfast at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home. Still feeling some concern for Little Bob at this nest. Send positive wishes for lots and lots of big fish, please.

There were two hatches at the Seaside Osprey nest and guess what? The little ones of Bruce and Naha hatched within 5 hours of one another. Fabulous delayed incubation!

One little one at Boulder County. Those other two eggs don’t look like they are doing anything.

Both babies are still with us at the nest of Betsy and Frederick in South Carolina.

Still one at Clark PUD.

Up the river there are now two at Cowlitz PUD.

And close by is the Port of Ridgefield and it looks like they still have a single Bob.

All three fledglings on the nest at the Venice Golf and Country Club hoping for fish dinners with all the trimmings!

The two at Patchogue are doing magnificent. Dad has it a bit easier than last year when he had four chicks to feed.

Second baby hatches at Mispillion Harbour.

Hoping the Middle baby is safe tonight at Lake Murray. That is all we can do and support them getting the fish grates to keep the raptors away next year.

The trio in Germany at the Goitzsche-Wildnis nest appear to be doing fine.

Gorgeous Ruffy and Tuffie looking out to the world that they have already conquered with a big fish on the nest.

Rain started to fall on Finnegan and Iris late Tuesday night.

Could be a nestling at Allin’s Cove West.

‘H’ reports on the nests she is monitoring:

5/28 The Mispillion Harbor osprey nest had a second hatch at 16:39.  Egg #1 was previously broken, so its two lil’ osplets for Della and Warren this year.

5/28  At the Dahlgren osprey nest, egg #2 was destroyed by a crow on 5/24, egg #1 broke on 5/27, and the remaining egg #3 was very briefly pecked by a crow on 5/26.  Egg #3 is at 34 days on 5/29, but it has not been incubated consistently.  

5/28 Captiva:  Ding was 35 days old, and Darling 33 days old on 5/28.  The good fishing has definitely resumed, thankfully.  This family had another great day, and we saw the return of the mega-crops for Darling.  Edie continues to astound us.  She has been assisting Jack with the fish production.  At 1415, after briefly head-bobbing-triangulating, Edie dove from the platform into the water and exited with a fish.  After circling a bit, she landed in the nest with a large sheepshead.  Then at 1814 Edie once again dove from the platform and returned with a large catfish.  What a gal!


5/28 Patuxent-I osprey nest:  Dad brought fish to the nest five times.  Little was subjected to the usual beaking and intimidation by the older sibs, but managed to eat very well today!  At 0715 Dad delivered a huge goldfish.  The first feeding lasted 1.5 hours, and Dad removed a large leftover portion.  Little had three private feedings and ate at least 177 bites of fish at this meal.  Dad returned with the remains of the goldfish at 1042, and that meal lasted for 40 minutes.  Little managed to eat 108 bites.  At 1515 Dad dropped off a very large fish for a feeding that lasted 40 minutes, and Little ate approximately 52 bites of fish.  Dad returned with a large leftover piece of the previous fish at 1656.  No one was very enthusiastic, as they all still had large crops, and weren’t hungry.  Little ate 33 bites of fish and was no longer able to open his beak when Mom offered fish bits.  Finally, at 1921 Dad returned with the fish tail portion of the earlier fish for a short feeding.  Little did not get any bites.  Little ate at least 370 bites of fish today!

Highlights from week 5 at Cal Falcons! Gosh, haven’t they grown?

‘A’ comments on the RTH nest of Ruth and Oren at Syracuse: “May 26, 2024–DEVASTATING NEWS

OR3 died in the nest today at ~12:52:12. The chick had eaten prey twice today and did not exhibit obvious signs of illness or injury. A plan was in the works for retrieval of the body for necropsy but the chick’s body was consumed. We will closely monitor the other two chicks for any sign of illness. We so appreciate the concern and comments from cam followers who have reached out today. We are devastated by this sudden loss and hope the two remaining chicks remain healthy and fledge the nest successfully as expected in about two weeks. 

I only knew of this when I watched the streaming cam and there were only two chicks on the nest yesterday. I have spent a while looking for what had happened and finding this Facebook page. It is just TOO sad. Of course OR3 was my favourite, being the baby of the three (I always love the babies). I am worried that having consumed their sibling, the two remaining hawklets at Ruth and Oren’s nest may be in danger. It is strange that there was no sign of illness before the youngster’s death. It had eaten twice on the day it died and then around lunchtime, it passed for no apparent reason. Not being able to do a necropsy is unfortunate, but gaining access to the body when these two are so close to fledge but not at all ready to do so was always going to be exceptionally difficult. My concern, obviously, is whether that has compromised the other two. I cannot even begin to speculate on what may have killed the little one. Do you have any thoughts? 

When I first saw there were only two chicks on the nest, I wondered at first whether one had fallen off that crowded nest. Then, seeing the huge size of the oldest hawklet, I even wondered whether one had fledged, but I knew it was not yet time. So I was at a loss to know what had happened, and finding the Facebook post I sent you didn’t really help with any reasons either. So we will never know and that is frustrating. 

This was Ruth and Oren’s first clutch. Oren is a 2020 son of the previous occupants of the nest, Su and Otto, who both died within about a fortnight of each other in 2022. I could not find what the cause of those deaths was. Oren arrived at the nest with his young mate, Ruth, in 2023, but they were not successful in breeding. This year, they were. And as first-time parents, I thought they were doing a wonderful job. 

They are a gorgeous couple. I do hope they stay together and stay safe for next year.”

‘A’ is getting excited for Iris and Finnegan and is really happy that Iris has a new mate. “He is bringing huge branches to the nest and is a bit clumsy when he’s bumbling about placing them. The two eggs looked intact today when we got a really good close-up of them. Finn had flown in with a nice big fish, which he ate the head off on the perch before delivering the majority of it to Iris on the nest. He flew off, and returned again when she had not touched his fish, and attempted to remove it from the nest (he already had a large crop). Iris objected strongly to this idea, and he changed his mind quickly. She got up from the eggs, and took her fish while he settled down to incubate. There had been some rain during the afternoon but by now, around 7pm, it was dry again. When Iris returned, she had a VERY large crop (that was a big fish and Finn left nearly all of it for her). He is doing a great job. I would prefer it if only one egg hatched, to be honest, but we will see. 

It is now 5.50am on 29 May, Iris has woken up, still with a very large crop from her giant fish dinner. Finn flew onto the perch, with empty talons, at 05:43:30 to say good morning. He is a very handsome osprey. Such a cutie too, with his efforts to please Iris. It is so nice to see her being spoiled for a change! “

Five healthy baby Black storks in Bolewice.

There are also five at the Tukums nest in Lativa. Oh, I hope there is enough food.

Bety and Bukacek have it much easier as they had only one hatch this year. That baby is really growing!

The little Red tail Hawk taken for prey being raised with its eaglet siblings in California.

Lots of prey on the Golden Eagle’s nest in Bucovina.

Alyth and Nova incubating their eggs at the Imperial Eagle cam in RU.

There are no raptors but some lovely song birds and some beautiful images of Japan.

Finally, who said that Ospreys do not do well in care? Seaside has plenty. What other care centres do you know that have ospreys doing rehab? Tell me! Thank you.

A couple of years ago, I asked this same question. At the time it was to demonstrate to Port Lincoln that information they had been given was flawed and that ospreys can do as well in care as any other of the raptors. I think it is time to continue compiling that list and your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Many wondered how many nests were damaged during the recent storms. This eagle nest was believed to be 40 years old at the time it was hit.

Fully vaccinated California Condor released back to the wild after being treated for lead toxicity.

Green Ledge Light Preservation Society is expecting its first osprey hatch on 1 June.

‘J’ reports that the Kakapo Recovery continue their relocation efforts:

Question: Did you follow the Lake Norman Osprey cam in Mooresville, North Carolina? Do you know how many eggs were laid? how many hatched? I am aware that there was one chick and the camera went offline and when the cam came back the chick and adults, Ruben and Cherise, were gone. Any information would be appreciated.

Thank you so much for being with me today. Please take care. We will catch up with more nests tomorrow! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their posts, comments, posts, videos, photos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, J, H’, Dyfi Osprey Cam, Bywyd Gwyllt Glaslyn, Llyn Clywedog, LRWT, Alyth SS, Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Radford University, Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home, Seaside, Boulder County, OBX osprey Cam, Clark PUD, Cowlitz PUD, Port of Ridgefield, VGCCO, PSEG, Heidi McGrue, Lake Murray Ospreys, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Moorings Park, Montana Osprey Project, Allin Cove-West, SK Hideaways, Mispillion Harbour Ospreys, Window to Wildlife, Patuxent River Park, Dahlgren Ospreys, Syracuse University RTH Cam, Bolewice Stork Cam, LDF, Mlade Buky, Jann Nichols, Bucovina Wild, Seaside Bird Sanctuary, National Eagle Centre, Helen Matcham, Eastern Imperial Cam RU, Ventana Wildlife Society, Green Ledge Light Preservation Society, Kakapo Recovery, and Nature and Birds of Japan.

Tuesday in Bird World

28 May 2024

Good Morning All,

I apologise for being late with the Monday posting.

At Lake Murray, Mum came down from her perch to sleep with her only surviving chick. Did she hear the GHO. Oh, if this chick can only put on some good weight and if the beams from the strobes were the same as they were Saturday night, Middle might stand a chance. (Note: Little was taken the first night and it appears that Big was taken Sunday night.)

Baby was safe this morning. Oh, please, let this nest keep one!

As we recover from the second GHO predation at Lake Murray, we must – where possible – advise the osprey and eagle nests of the success of the Cowlitz PUD experiment with the metal fish grids. I keep talking about the economical cost. Two fish grids with a welded rod attached to opposite sides of an Osprey platform. That is all you need! It works. A baffle at the base of the pole for raccoons would always sweeten the deal. If you know of a nest that suffers predation from other raptors, please advise them. You can feel free to copy this. They can contact Cowlitz PUD and they will happily tell them how they did it. We need to be proactive. No sense osprey parents working hard to fledge chicks only to fatten them up for owls and eagles who can find other meals.

‘B’ wrote with a very good question. I want to go through my files and put my ‘thinking cap’ on with ‘H’. It is not a topic that we have put into our data forms which are related to ’causes of death in ospreys’ and, specifically, siblicide, but it is worthy of some good notes and someone might be working on this research and I am unaware.

I wonder if there is a statistical difference in predation from osprey nests on platforms that humans have installed specifically for them, as opposed to predation from nests on natural sites that the ospreys have selected?  (That is, are the ospreys somehow better able to select a site from their own choices among natural sites than when they receive implicit encouragement to use a site selected by humans?  Have the ospreys built up some sort of knowledge from experience and historical patterns?)

I have not seen a difference.  In fact, if I think of overall predation by other raptors for the past three years, it ‘seems’ higher on natural nests in the UK and Finland than on platoforms in the US – the deaths there were mostly caused by weather related events or eggs that DNH.  The major predator in the UK and Europe appears to be the goshawk that lives in the nearby forests.  These nests are not in urban areas as a rule like many are in North America.

A goshawk came and took one of the osprey chicks at Llyn Clywedog right when Seren was feeding them in 2023!  

This is a comment by John Williams who cares for these ospreys: ‘This blog was never going to be easy to write, but yesterday at just before 16:30 a goshawk attacked the nest and took one of our young ospreys. It was blue 8B1, the attack was very quick and out of the blue. Both juveniles and Seren 5F was on the nest eating the fish when it happened. All distracted by the food their guard was down. You could see Seren 5F looking down to the ground as if she could see him down there.’ (I have placed a file at the end of this, the entire sad report by John Williams. I was glad to see him refer to the birds as ‘family’ because that is, of course, how ‘H’ and I feel about those we monitor).

A young goshawk took a female chick that had just been ringed at Kielder Forest in 2023 from the nest of Mr and Mrs UV. The couple are raising chicks again this season on that very nest.

Goshawks also attack ospreys in Latvia and in one nest in particular the male has failed to attract a new mate because of this. The rumour, this great sadness of chicks taken, must have spread. It was the nest of Theo and Vita.

The new fledgling, Sacha, named after Sacha Dench and The Flight of the Osprey, was attacked by a goshawk at Tweed Valley. To my knowledge, the ospreys are still breeding there.

CJ7 and Blue 022 are still using their nest in Poole Harbour despite the goshawk taking their fledgling H52 on 5 August 2022.

In the US, people will remember Steve and Rachel and the attacks on their nest. Rachel did not return from migration and Steve and his new mate, Callie, refuse to use the on-camera Hog Island nest despite restoring it and mating and having fish gifts.  “Last year, the rangers posted a photo of a very remote nest on Hog Island that they believe was used by Steve and Callie (H)”. ‘H’ also adds, “Dory and Skiff had Skipper that was predated by an owl in July 2023, but they did not change nest sites.  The primary nest that I know of is Hog Island.”

There was a spate of killings in Finland and I do wonder if some of the nests without families this year are those. I would have to do some more research and check for certain.  

Della and Warren have their first hatch of the 2024 season at Mispillion Harbour.

There is the first hatch at Clark PUD.

Olive and Oscar’s little chick at The Port of Ridgefield is peeking up – look under Mum’s fluffies -. So cute. This nest will be getting lots of predator protection for the 2025 nesting season.

Cutie Pie baby at Boulder County.

And another one at Cowlitz. Let us hope those fish grates hold this year against predating raptors in the area like they did last year.

There is a hatch at Moraine State Park on Monday.

Idris and Telyn are celebrating the hatch of their third chick. It is the 15th year for Ospreys at Dyfi in Wales.

All-Three-Chicks-Hatch-Without-Delay-Dyfi-Osprey-ProjectDownload

There are now three for CJ7 and Blue 022. CJ7 is making valiant efforts to get that little one some fish.

Beautiful Dorcha is feeding her three chicks. Louis keeps that pantry full despite in climate weather.

Louis delivered six fish on Monday. SIX large fish!!

And there is the first hatch for Elen and Aran!

The three osplets at Smallwood State Park in Maryland are doing very well. Like Manton Bay they are right on the water and I hope it is full of fish!

The three at Maryland Western Shore for Old Town Home are getting a little rowdy, especially the two older ones. Arthur needs to being in many more large fish – if they are even available, maybe not. Or lots and lots of fish deliveries very close together! Fingers crossed for this little one.

Patchogue Nest is so full of garbage you can hardly see the chicks.

Radford University has two babies. Here is the link to their camera in Virginia.

There are four osplets at Field Farm.

At the Loch of the Lowes, Blue NCO lost her chance for a family when Laddie was killed/died. She had two suitors – a Pale Male and a Dark Male. Now Mrs G’s (Glaslyn matriarch did not return in 2023 from migration) granddaughter 7C1 has been battling with Blue NCO for the nest and she was on the nest with the Dark Male on Monday. It is not going to be nice this nest attempted take over.

Archie is working over time to keep his four babies fed!

The trio from the Denton Homes nest are doing very well at SOAR. As well as can be expected when they are being raised in care. Safe, well fed, nice vet care.

Across Europe firefighters work tirelessly to save the lives of storks – whether it is fishing line or floods or just abandonment.

Other ordinary individuals adopt storks and feed them. Makes my heart warm up!

Bety and Bukacek had only one hatch out of two eggs at Mlade Buky this season.

Iris and Finnegan hoping for a family.

The fledglings still visit the nest at the Venice Golf course in Florida while that nest that was loaded with fish at Fisherman’s Creek appears to have no more visitors.

It is very difficult to tell how much food Smallie is getting at Amersfoort. ‘PB’ reports that Smallie was very clever and jumped out of the box to get fed and then back inside. Yeap for Smallie.

Larry’s eyases are getting pretty independent and not sure they want Mum telling them what to do!

Pip/Hatch watch at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum coming up in 3-4 days.

‘H’ reports on the nests she is monitoring:

“5/17 Patuxent osprey nest – There were six fish brought to the nest by Dad.  After two days with very little to eat, chick 3 “Little” finally had a couple good meals on Monday.  At 0715 Dad brought a medium size whole fish, and Little was not allowed to eat.  It’s not just ‘Big’ that is aggressive toward Little, but also ‘Middle’ at times.  Dad quickly brought another fish at 0805, while the two older chicks were still full, and Little was able to eat 52 bites of fish. Little was shut out of the third feeding.  At 1336 Dad brought a very large headless fish, for a feeding that lasted nearly an hour.  Little ate 70 bites of fish at that meal, and had a nice crop.  There were two more fish deliveries from Dad of small fish, and Little was not able to get any bites of those fish.”

“5/27 The Mispillion Harbor Delaware osprey nest of Della and Warren has their first baby of the season.  One egg remains.”

“5/27 Captiva ospreys:  They had a better fishing day with 8 fish brought to the nest, including a partial catfish from Edie.  Darling (CO8) was only completely shut out of one short meal, and s/he managed a couple nice crops.”

Could this Golden Eagle nest be the exception to the rule of ‘Cainism’? There are two healthy eaglets at the Golden Eagle nest in Estonia. The first chick always eats first but there is enough food for all and second chick eats well, too along with Mum. Fingers Crossed.

The camera has been on and off with ‘Highlights’ at the West End. I have been told that Koa has branched. I did not see it! They are so big!

It was yesterday but we can celebrate today. One of my heroes.

Thank you so much for being with me today. This was a quick check on all those hatches and some coming up. It is a busy week and there are still eggs to hatch – lots of them! Take care everyone. See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, questions, posts, videos, articles and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, B, Geemeff, J, H, SP, PB’, Heidi McGrue, Clark PUD, Port of Ridgefield, Boulder County, Cowlitz PUD, Moraine St Park, Dyfi Osprey Project, BofPH, The Woodland Trust, Geemeff, Smallwood State Park, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, PSEG, Radford University Ospreys, Field Farm, The Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), SK Hideways, SOAR, CS, Mlade Buky Stork Cam, Montana Osprey Project, VGCCO, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, Amersfoort Falcons, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Patuxent River Park, Mispillion Harbour, Window to Wildlife, Eagle Club of Estonia, IWS/Explore, and USFWS History Archives.

Tragedy strikes at Carthage! Friday in Bird World

23 May 2024

Good Afternoon Everyone,

It was a gorgeous sunny day and I set out to check the number of ducklings and goslings at our local pond. Little did I know the tragedy that was brewing in Tennessee with the recent thunder storms. I am glad that I got out in nature for awhile. To my surprise there was a Greater White-fronted Goose in the pond just paddling about. I was completely taken by surprise by this medium sized goose with its distinctive white face patch and light pink bill. It was a medium ash brown splotched. When it was paddling I noticed its very bright orange legs.

Not a great image. I have not colour corrected. It is migrating through on its way to the tundra in the Arctic region in the far north of our province.

There was a single female Mallard with 9 babies, lots of wood ducks but I did not see any ducklings. I counted a total of 65 Canada Goslings and approximately 250 adult Canada Geese.

They were so cute! The numbers are extremely good compared to previous years!

A new reader asked me why I felt that people needed to intervene to stop the GHOs from taking the Osprey chicks as prey. They reminded me that GHOs need to eat, too, and that this is nature, not a zoo.

My long answer: For me, Ospreys are treasures. They have been on this planet since the Palaeocene Era approximately 65 million years ago, just like the owls. Unlike the other raptors that eat all manner of prey and even carrion, Ospreys eat exclusively fish. There has been the rare occasion when fish stocks were not available and they have been seen to eat birds. Perhaps twice that I am aware of in decades. Osprey talons are made for catching fish, not other types of prey. They do not attack and take the chicks of the eagles and the other raptors. They leave them alone. Have you ever seen an Osprey knock an eagle or eaglet or an owl off its perch or in the nest? In addition, the extreme curved nature of their talons makes them poor fighters against eagles, goshawks, and large owls. Despite the siblicide, they are gentle creatures going on about their business hoping that humans stop overfishing and, of course, they will shortly begin to notice our impact on the climate if they haven’t already. GHOs can live on other prey. In fact, if we would change our agricultural practices and, not use pesticides and herbicides, and stop poisoning rats and pigeons, the owls would help us get rid of those and be quite well-fed and healthy. They do not need to eat Osprey chicks – and if my research is correct, in 2-3 years time, there will be an alarm sounded for a decline in the osprey populations. We will want every chick to survive!

I am a great supporter for intervention in all manner of raptor situations. Not just ospreys. Humans have ‘messed’ with nature so much that the old saying ‘let nature takes its course’ seems wildly inappropriate in the face of great habitat loss, warming seas and dying fish, overfishing to the point that more than 90% of the fish since the beginning of the twentieth century are gone. Because of what humans have done to the planet (our manipulation and control of nature) – including leaving our garbage everywhere – we have a responsibility to all wildlife, and that includes owls, to take care of them and in some instances, that also includes GHOs – but not if they are harvesting osplets.

But, specific to now. ‘H’ and I are intimate with the Raptor families (almost exclusively Ospreys) we monitor for our data information project. I am in my 8th year, and ‘H’ has been with me for nearly three years. The osprey families are a part of us. We understand and recognise their behaviours and can tell when ‘something is up’. We are probably closer to the ospreys we watch than to many members of our own family. Indeed, I can predict the behaviour of many osprey families better than I might my own kids. We sit with them when they are laying eggs, monitor their labour, cheer their hatches, and cry when other osprey intruders attack, such as at Fortis Exshaw last year, and they lose chicks. They are such a huge part of our lives. A piece of us disappears each time one of them dies. We might be accused of caring too much – not being too cold and ‘scientific’. We understand that Ospreys have emotions just like humans do (so do the other raptors/animals). We empathise with them. So, knowing that Lake Murray Mum lost all three of her chicks ast year and seeing how well she and Dad have provided for the trio this year – well, to lose one because the strobe lights or the fish grate protectors were not in place early enough knowing the GHO was there – makes me sad, disappointed, and angry. These osplets are their children like we have children. Do we want someone to steal them and eat them in front of us? That is what the GHO did to Lucy with dear Little.

I hope that answers your question.

The storms going through the central US (or is it the Midwest or both? I forget) have caused havoc for the raptors on the streaming cams and off. We will never know the full extension of the destruction and deaths. In Europe, the gorgeous little storklets, so healthy and happy, have drowned in their nests due to torrential rains. Any that survive are precious and need to be protected.

As all of you know the Denton Homes Bald Eagle nest collapsed. It was rebuilt by the company about 8 feet off the ground, similar to the nest at Fraser Point. The trio of eagles were in care and returned. At least two of the eaglets are observed to have trouble standing or walking. The male came to the tree but did not come down and feed the eaglets. They are now in care. We will never know why the adult eagles rejected the nest and/or their chicks. Human speculation is useless in these situations.

On Friday, storms pounded Tennessee. The Mum at Carthage was doing the best to protect her Only Bob when the nest collapsed with her own it. From the looks of the scene it was not a proper platform but something more makeshift on top of a pole. My breaks for this Osprey family that had done so well this year.

I want to show you images of the Only Bob who could not have survived this tragedy from earlier in the day. ‘H’ has a done a video of the collapse.

It is obvious that all osprey platforms in areas impacted by heavy storms such as the Central and Midwest US should have category 5 hurricane platforms. If anyone wants those specifications, talk to Connor at Window to Wildlife. Poor Mum was holding on tight when the nest just flipped. Additionally, these nests need to be inspected annually and rebuilt, if required.

This is news from Iowa but it might represent many other regions like Tennessee.

Things appear safe at the Johnson City ETSU Bald Eagle nest.

Little Miami Conservancy is OK.

Bluff City is offline and I am concerned as that fast moving storm that hit Carthage is heading right towards the Bluff City-ETSU nest.

One of the eggs at The Port of Ridgefield Osprey Platform has broken and was eaten by the male later on Thursday.

Thank you Lake Murray for keeping those strobes going! It could save their lives.

Strobe lights might help Iris. They could be set up in the parking lot. Too late to install the wonderful fish grates of Cowlitz PUD.

Hatch watch at Cowlitz PUD.

Few Bald Eagles in the Channel Island this year. That baby below is precious.

Gracie Shepherd caught up with the Trio at the West End – my goodness. They really messed with the stats in the Channel Islands because it looks like they are going to fledge three healthy eaglets. Look at that hover!

I was caught off guard. They ringed Monty and Hartley’s Fab Four on Thursday – FOUR GIRLS! Monty must be run off his feet. No wonder feedings are a frenzy!

There is good news out there. And we have to celebrate all these little miracles.

Banding Day Highlights.

‘H’ and I are both worn out from the recent tragedies. Her report for Captiva and Patuxent are below. They are short and this newsletter will probably be short also.

I think I missed a feeding later at Patuxent, but from what I had seen earlier, Little was beaked now and then, but had eaten 243 bites of fish in the first 4 meals.

Captiva: I missed the last two meals, but CO8 was very well fed today; had a bigger crop than CO7 at times.

Louis and Dorcha appear to have another precocious and quite lively Big Bob on their hands this year.

The two osplets of Betsy and Frederick are doing fine.

It is a good thing that Idris and Telyn are very experienced parents and that there is plenty of fish at Dyfi – Big and Middle Bob are already going at it. I hope it is just because their eyes are not focused yet and any beak represents potential fish! And guess what? Three hatched early Saturday morning. Bring in the fish Idris!!!!!!!

And now there are three at Dyfi.

Waiting to see if there is another hatch at Poole Harbour. There was a second pip noticed.

Flora and Harry now have two Bobs at Alyth!

Please note the following fundraising from Dr Sharpe and the IWS team:

Want to save birds and do something really beneficial, then get people to either stop using sticky tape on trees or cut it off!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for being with me today. If you are in the area of storms, please take extra precautions to stay safe. We hope to have you here with us again soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, announcements, videos, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog today: ‘BHA, Geemeff, H, J, PB’, Denton Homes, DTC-Carthage, Heidi McGrue, 9ABC News Iowa, Johnson City-ETSU, Little Miami Conservancy, Bluff City-ETSU, Port of Ridgefield, Pam Breci, IWS/Explore, Gracie Shepherd, SK Hideaways, Patuxent River Park, Window to Wildlife, Geemeff, OBX Cam, Dyfi Osprey Project, Birds of Poole Harbour, IWS, and Wild Mountain Birds.

Tuesday in Bird World

21 May 2024

Hello everyone!

The Baltimore Orioles were enjoying their grape jelly and oranges in the garden on Saturday and Sunday. The males are black with the bright orange and the female is the lighter yellow-orange. Taken with my phone and heavily cropped so soft edges.

‘The Girls’ and I are watching a male American Redstart in the garden. This species is passing through going North but this little fellow seems to have a bit of an injury. Like the others, it would be nearly impossible to catch him and the outcome would be bleak at the wildlife centre where they are full to running over with ‘babies’ at the moment. I will let him heal and see how things work out.

Isn’t he a beauty!

I could get on a soapbox today, but I am afraid I would give each of you a headache and you would never return. Last week a woman stole two goslings from in front of a shop in my City. She just took them from Mamma Goose. First it is a wildlife crime and second, why on earth would anyone do such a thing? How would that woman feel if someone stole two of her children?

There was a positive event when some goslings were saved recently and orphans added to another family. It is nesting season and we need to care for all the wildlife.

First up – please vote!

The four in San Jose are keeping Monty busy hunting!

For several years, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have wondered what will happen and how will this military conflict impact the birds. Many of us tracked and marvelled at the late Karl II and his mate, Kaia, as they flew through Ukraine and then, at times, diverted to other countries. Scientists have now discovered that the birds use different flight paths to avoid the conflict.

Eagles-shifting-flight-paths-to-avoid-Ukraine-conflict-scientists-find-Birds-The-GuardianDownload

I missed the pip/hatch at Llyn Clywedog for Dylan and Seren in Monday’s post. We are also on pip watch at Loch Arkaig.

This little one of Dylan and Seren’s is doing so well with its egg tooth that by Tuesday when I publish this post, it will have hatched.

Loch Arkaig’s nest 2 – Louis and Dorcha – is on pip watch.

Keeping an eye on Dyfi’s eggs. There is the little one!!!!!!!!

I saw the 0919 fish come in to Lake Murray and Little was positioned perfectly to be fed. The older ones do not seem that interested in eating first thing in the morning which allows the baby to get a nice start on the day. Little had at least two other good feeds during the day – I did not follow with a microscope. They are getting all their plumage and the aggression should be stopping as long as Kenny continues with fish deliveries.

There are still three osplets on the nest at Lake Murray.

Beautiful Ruffie and Tuffy. Ruffie has fledged and takes some short flights – returns to the nest quickly if she spots a fish delivery! Dear little Tuffy has yet to fly and that is OK. We love seeing both of them on the nest – so healthy and such amazing parents. That Harry is a really good provider just like Kenny at Lake Murray.

Parents continue to bring fish to the Venice Golf and Country Club nest and today Little Bob had a private feeding.

Thankfully Olivia has abandoned the eggs at Severna Park.

It appears that Blue NCO is accepting the dark plumaged male as her new mate after Laddie’s passing at LOTL.

At Rutland’s Manton Bay, Only Bob – that got flung out of the egg cup by a fish and returned to the centre by generous caring staff – is now in the Reptile stage!

At Loch Arkaig, Dorcha is caught off guard by the Tawny Owl.

Did Larry’s eyases fledge? or are they in another area?

‘H’ reports on Captiva: “First meal started at 0657 with a whole sheepshead delivered by jack.  CO8 was able to eat first, and ate for 4 minutes before s/he was beaked by CO7.  CO7 ate until 0719.  Then CO8 ate again from 0720 to 0736, for a total of 20 minutes at this meal.

The second feeding at 0900 was a partial sheepshead.  CO7 ate.  CO8 ate one bite at 0910, and also ate a large piece at the very end of the meal at 0915.

Feeding #3 was a small whole needlefish.  The meal lasted for 5 minutes, and CO8 ate for about a minute.

The fourth feeding was whole fish that lasted 38 minutes, and CO8 was only able to eat 4-6 bites of fish at this meal.

The next fish was a small whole pinfish.  CO8 was fed the whole fish including the tail (minus Edie’s bites), in about six minutes.

Jack’s sixth fish of the day was another pinfish, and at 1512 CO8 started to eat on Edie’s right side, and eventually CO7 worked its way over to Edie’s left, but was mostly hidden from our view.  It did appear that CO8 was offered the most bites of fish during the 6-minute feeding.

Fish #7 at 1745 was a partial fish, and both osplets still had moderate crops to start out.  It was a 16 minute meal, and CO8 was fed the first 14 bites of fish from Edie, before CO7 exerted its dominance.  At 1759 CO7 moved away and CO8 ate 11 more bites of fish to end the meal.

Overall, it was a good day, with Jack delivering ample fish for his family, and CO8 had his/her crop filled a few times.”

Beautiful Iris. Her new mate will get his name today. I sure hope nothing happens to him before these babies fledge.

At PSEG’s Oyster Bay nest, Dad is determined to put up privacy rails so we cannot see the babies! I wonder if someone is pruning their trees?

‘H’ reports on Patuxent River Park and their trio of osplets.

‘R’ reports that there was water in the camera box that was causing the problems at University of Florida-Gainesville. Once it was back on there was Stella doing a good job providing for Big Bob. Beautiful plumage. Grateful that one survived after Talon went missing.

Screenshot

As you will have noticed, I do not report on the eagles as much as I did before the Ospreys began laying eggs and hatching. Murphy has another foster eaglet and it looks like he is showing it how much fun you have in a puddle pool.

Jasper and Leaper, at Duke Farms, have branched higher and higher into the tree, but have yet to fledge. Their first flight will be soon.

The third eaglet at the George Sutton Avian Research Centre in Oklahoma has died of siblicide on 19 May 2024.

All three at Little Miami Conservancy survived.

Are Jackie and Shadow building a new nest?

At the ND-LEEF nest in South Bend, Indiana (St Joseph’s Park), Gigi, the new female, is the sole provider for the eaglets as Dad has been missing since 8 May. Oh, this is sad.

Big Bob hatched at Llyn Clywedog at 2208 Sunday evening the 20th of May.

Port Lincoln is trying another experiment. They have placed underwater lights so Mum can see the fish and catch them! It is working. You really have to appreciate all the things that are being made by this group in South Australia to not only protect the Ospreys but to help them if there are difficult times in getting food. Three beautiful fledges in 2023 can be attributed to their tenacious efforts in getting fish on that nest for the osplets.

There are two beautiful white fluffy Golden eaglets at the Bucovina nest in Romania. I wish there was a possibility that the second would survive the historical ‘Cainism’ that drives this species.

Later, Mum removed the second eaglet from the nest, killed it, ate part of it and fed the rest to eaglet 1. Sadly, the little one was still alive and had a slow and agonising death.

At Amersfoort, Small has a good crop and appears to have grown some.

Smallie has gotten out of the scrape. Will he be able to return to be fed

‘J’ brings us good news about the Kakapo Recovery efforts: “The kākāpō population has increased almost fivefold since the programme started in 1995 and has doubled in the last 10 years. There are 247 kākāpō alive today. This is great news, especially since kākāpō only breed once every 2-4 years when the rimu trees are fruiting.

The last breeding season was in 2022. To help predict the next breeding season, we compare seasonal temperatures year-on-year and collect rimu samples from the predator-free breeding islands to count fruit tips. 

We know some kākāpō will breed if more than 10 percent of rimu tips bear fruit. It also seems that a greater number of kākāpō breed as the percentage of fruit increases.

Data so far tells us that there will be no large breeding event in 2025 and the difference in seasonal temperatures indicate a likely breeding season in 2026. After further fruit tip counting early next year, we will be able to confirm this predicted season and may even have an estimate of how many nests to expect in 2026!”

Now isn’t this interesting? Raptors are gaining immunity!

As-bird-flu-spreads-to-dairy-cows-Minnesotas-raptors-show-signs-of-building-remarkable-immunityDownload

Thank you for being with us with this morning. Please take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, images, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, J, PB, R’, Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Sharon Pollock, Cal Falcons, John Williams, Geemeff, Dyfi Osprey Project, Lake Murray Ospreys, moorings Park, VGCCO, Severna Park, Scottish Wildlife Trust (LOTL), LRWT, ParksConservancy, Window to Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Heidi McGrue, UFlorida-Gainesville Osprey Cam, World Bird Sanctuary, Deb Stecyk, Jonathan Coleman, Little Miami conservancy, Cindy Alicno, ND-LEEF, Llyn Clywedog, PLO, Bucovina Wild, Amersfoort Falcons, Kakapo Recover, and The Star Tribune.

Hatch in Progress at Dyfi…Monday in Bird World

20 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

There is a hatch in progress at Dyfi!

Sunday was a glorious day, and instead of sitting in front of my computer in the conservatory with the girls, I took a trip to a small town in southern Manitoba and paid a visit to their greenhouse. They had helped with a fundraiser (plants) for my grandson’s choir tour, and the quality of their flowers and herbs amazed me. So off I went. It was a wonderful half-hour drive with the sides of the road full of Red-wing Blackbirds flitting about the bullrushes and geese in ponds created by the recent heat rains. Everything was green and beautiful, and – it was quiet. If you live in the centre of a big city, the silence of the rural areas does not go unnoticed! This evening, all those herbs – including two Curry plants – will be put in their containers on the two decks with the hope that Dyson & Co will have pity on me and not usurp them while caching their peanuts. I live in hope.

It is interesting. The garden is not mine OR, rather, I have chosen to give it her to the animals which means that I feel that I am intruding when I am outside. I spent only an hour planting and will finish tomorrow. The heavy rains of the last days have meant that many birds might not have eaten well and it seemed cruel to be out there during the evening buffet period. The fledgling Red-wing Blackbirds are flitting about. One is causing concern. It does loops and I fear that it has a wing problem. I am not able to catch it and to be honest, the Wildlife Centre would only put the darling to sleep so I am going to let it live its life around the wood boxes where there is lots of food and see what happens. It has certainly entertained Calico and Baby Hope. The Baltimore Orioles – and this year more females than males – have been eating oranges. Lots of oranges! For some reason they are not at all interested in the grape jelly. Will try again tomorrow. But what an exciting late spring it has been – baby sparrows galore and now these little Red-wing Blackbirds. Their nest is inside a 30 cm high stack of vines that grow on the back woodbox. A perfect place that is well protected from the Crows and Grackles. Their Mummy was very smart!

Sad news is coming out of Glacier Gardens. Freedom was found Dad. He is the mate of Liberty and the Dad of those wonderful chicks Kindness (2021), and Peace and Hope (2023).

‘H’ and I just want to make everyone aware of what we desperately hope will not happen at Lake Murray. The ages and dates for the predation by the GHO in 2023 were: “Big was taken by GHO on 5/15 at age 26 days. Middle was taken by GHO on 5/23 at age 33 days.” Little died from siblicide. Today, the Osplets are 29, 27, and 24 days old. Mum is not sleeping on the nest at night and is away during the day. The GHO is aware of the nest. I hope that the owner has lights and loud music playing regularly now and will not stop thinking the owls have forgotten! Those efforts might help.

Little ate reasonably well on Sunday. I am no longer counting bites unless behaviours or fish deliveries (or both) change on this nest. For now, we have to stay strong and hope the GHO does not take these precious babies.

There are such simple solutions to protect our beautiful birds from harm – by us or other predators. At Lake Murray, for example, the fish grates or lights – GHOs do not like lights – would help. Right now, lights are the only solution. During migration, dimming or turning off lights can save the lives of millions of birds. You just have to flip a switch. Is that so difficult? Geez, it could save hydro costs!!!!!!! Do you remember the Brown Outs of the 1970s? It really is easy. Geemeff found us a good article.

Lights-Out-Turn-off-lights-to-save-birds-lives-newscentermaine.com_Download

The two chicks on the German streaming cam Goitzsche-Wildnis appear to be doing well.

And then the third one hatched on Monday – so a trio!

We have all been worried about CO8 at Captiva. ‘H’ gives us her report for Sunday. “0722 The first meal of the day consisted of a small partial mullet.  CO8 simply decided to sit this one out, and did not approach Edie.

At 0845 Jack delivered a whole sheepshead.  CO8 was beaked, or intimidated several times over the next several minutes.  While Edie ate the fish, C07 simply hovered over CO8 until 0855.  Then CO7 decided to eat.  CO7 ate until 0901 and then moved away.  Edie then started to feed CO8, and ate until 0913, when CO7 returned to the table.  At 0920 CO7 again stopped eating, and CO8 ate for the next 6 minutes.  CO8 was fed for about 18 minutes at this meal.

Feeding #3 was a partial sheepshead at 1003.  CO7 beaked CO8, then CO7 ate until 1011.  CO8 had a short private feeding until 1017, when CO7 returned and they ate side-by-side for one minute until CO8 was beaked.  CO7 ate until 1023, then CO8 returned and ate for 2 more minutes.  CO8 ate for approximately 8 minutes at this feeding.

At 1557 Jack delivered a large live gafftopsail catfish.  CO7 intimidated CO8 and ate first.  By 1602 CO8 had worked his/her way to the other side of Edie, but was beaked by CO7.  At 1617, CO7 was taking a break from eating, and CO8 was fed…but only for 2 minutes, when he was beaked by CO7 who resumed eating.  CO7 ate for at least the next 30 minutes, and CO8 was only able to grab one or two bites.  At 1651 Edie was alarming and flew off with the fish.  She soon returned with the fish still in her talons, and CO8 ate for 1 minute before being intimidated by CO7.  At 1710, CO7 once again retired from the meal, and laid down to take a nap.  CO8 was able to eat for the next 8 minutes, before being pushed from behind by CO7.  CO7 ate until 1725, then CO8 was at the table and waiting, but Edie was distracted, presumably by an intruder.  At 1728 Edie flew off in a hurry.  Edie returned 5 minutes later.  There was just a small amount of the catfish remaining, and CO8 ate for the next 3 minutes.  CO8 was able to eat for a total of approximately 14 minutes, and only had a small crop after a fish that lasted roughly 90 minutes.  Overall however, CO8 did fairly well today, and had a large crop a couple of times today.”

Dr Ericke Green continues to post good information about Ospreys which I will share with you in case you are not on FB. This is an exciting year and we will know the name of Iris’s New Guy soon!

I had so many lovely letters today. There is news that I want to share with all of you.

‘AM’ has discovered a new Peregrine Falcon nest. It is Kingston College. She tells me, “The mother was badly injured and euthanized and the father is raising the young alone. Recently, a new female has started coming in.”

Here is the link to their streaming cam:

‘MM’ reassures us that the Dad at the MNSA nest is doing a fantastic job! She comments, “Mom seems to feed the littlest chick first and in the few days I’ve been watching there has been one episode of bonking that I’ve seen and it was between the two oldest chicks and it wasn’t at meal time. “

‘MM’ asked about Mum at MNSA begging Dad to feed her. Many of you might not have seen it before, but there are a number of Ospreys that either like to be fed or do the feeding. Iris has been begging New Guy to feed her while she is incubating just like her Stanley did. Several UK nests have the male feeding the female. I wish I had images. This is the screen capture of Dad feeding Mum at MNSA.

I am always happy to get your letters. Please do not ever think for a moment that I do not like hearing from you!

Annie and Archie have really provided a lot of ‘light’ to everyone’s lives this year. ‘B’ writes: “…just to say how much fun it is watching the Cal Falcons this year, and how impressed I am with both Annie and Archie. Annie is even more impressive every year, and she’s lucky to have Archie, too. I wasn’t expecting the fourth egg to hatch, and I was a bit worried when it did that it would be just too much. But Annie and Archie are just not skipping a beat with four chicks. Archie just keeps the prey coming, and Annie is so skilled at distributing the food to the chicks. And wonderful to see Archie again yesterday joining in to tandem feed the chicks.” 

What a shocking difference in size between Small at Amersfoort and one of the two older siblings.

Big Red loves her Ns. They are getting their juvenile feathers and their interest is shifting beyond the world of the nest on the light tower. We can expect fledging in June.

Rose and Oren’s sweet babies at Syracuse University. This nest is going to get really crowded.

Another location for Red-tail Hawks to raise their young – New York City! Yolton commented in his blog, urbanhawks.com, that the female had been picked up earlier in the week and taken into care. She was released and returned to her nest to the delight of her growing community of human well-wishers.

I am so happy that Bruce Yolton is posting his videos on FB for everyone to see.

Other Red-tails are nesting on Governor’s Island.

All three osplets have fledged and returned to the nest at the Venice Golf and Country Club platform. Adults continue to deliver fish – six or seven today!

Waiting for hatch at Boulder County.

Day old osplet at Great Bay doing well.

It looks like Dad will be fishing for two chicks this year at PSEG Patchogue.

Frederick keeps bringing in the fish to Betsy and the two chicks at Outerbanks.

Hebert and Hermine’s trio at Eschenbach are a little older than the chicks at Goitzsdhe Wildness.

For all Ervie lovers, myself included, he is still hanging around Port Lincoln! With all these boys, Mum and Dad could have grandchildren close by in a year or two.

‘A’ sends us the latest on Mum and Dad, the WBSE at Sydney Olympic Park:

“Speaking of which, I am intrigued by Lady and Dad and wondering whether this is their usual schedule and I just have been unaware of it (not checking the nest basically until eggs are due to be laid or have been laid, I think) or whether they are very early in nest-building and frequent mating behaviour this year. I suppose time will tell. We’ll know by the date the first egg is laid. 

Here are the reports for May 18 and May 19.

May 18: The eagles were by the nest last night and came in early, at 6:22am, with a duet and mating soon after. They brought a couple of sticks in, then were off. At 11:10am, a duet could be heard coming from Mangrove Island, though the eagles were out of sight of our observer. Then one was seen soaring overhead – in the picture. It was a windy day. Unknown where they were for the rest of the day. Then at dark, at 5:30pm, both arrived at the nest and settled nearby. Very few sticks were brought in today – Lady two and Dad one.

May 19: A fine day. Our eagles were awake early, with mating. Then both were in and out during the morning with sticks and leaves – five for Lady and seven for Dad. From about 11am, neither was seen at the river or nearby. Finally, at around 4pm, at least one was seen at Goat Island. Then at dusk, at 5:19pm, Dad showed up at the nest with leaves. He settled nearby. Where is Lady?”

More news about Laddie – and yes, I am thrilled they issued an appeal and were on top of what might have happened to our beloved male at Loch of the Lowes. (As Jeff Kear notes, “If the shot went straight through, it would not show up on an X-Ray”. Laddies body was found eight days after he went missing.

Update on death of Osprey ‘Laddie’ from Loch of the Lowes Reserve in Perthshire

If you are lucky enough to live in London, UK you might wish to take in the new exhibition at the Natural History Museum that focuses on how birds survive – and do not.

Vampire-finches-and-deadly-tree-snakes-how-birds-went-worldwide-–-and-their-battles-for-survival-Download

Thank you so much for your letters and for being with us today. Lots of excitement coming up in the next fortnight as we continue with fledges and hatches. Take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, videos, articles, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, AM, B, Geemeff, H, MM, MP’, Dyfi Osprey Project, Steven Bowery, Glacier Gardens Nest Cam, Trudi Kron, Lake Murray Ospreys, Animals, Goitzsche-Wildnis, Eschenbach, Window to Wildlife, Montana Osprey Project, Montana Osprey Cams and Dr Green, Kingston Campus STCG, MNSA Ospreys, Cal Falcons, SK Hideaways, Amersfoort Falcon Scrape, Cornell RTH, Syracuse University Hawk Cam, Bruce Yolton, VGCCO, Boulder County, Great Bay Ospreys, PSEG, OBX Osprey Cam, Eschenbach Ospreys, PLO, Sydney Olympic Cam, Raptor Persecution UK, and The Guardian.

Pips, Hatches, and Fledges…Sunday in Bird World

19 May 2024

Good Morning,

It is a long weekend for many countries around the world including Canada where we are celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday. The girls and I are, however, celebrating sun. The rain has stopped for now and everyone will be rushing to get their bedding plants into containers or beds. That includes me. The garden will be a sea of red this summer in an attempt to attract more pollinators and hummers!

I am late…the summer means I stay up really late at night and have lazy mornings. It has been wonderful to sit with the girls and enjoy my coffee and take in the warmth of the sun. The squirrels are busy and the baby Red-wing Blackbirds are flitting around. Mr Crow has not arrived although his breakfast is waiting for him.

Moorings Park Ruffie fledged on Saturday the 18th of May! Flew like a pro! I love the look on Tuffy’s face as she follows Ruffin’s flight. Simply in awe. You are next Tuffy!!!!!! We thought you might not make it at one time, but look at you both. Beautiful healthy osplets!

The fledglings at Frenchman’s Creek continue to return to the nest to feed.

Larry’s kids are really growing!

At Larry’s Mum’s scrape, Archie decided to try and feed his chicks again. He is such a cutie! And a real keeper. Annie picked well.

Waiting for Little to fledge at Venice Golf and Country Club. The winds are up Saturday afternoon. Will he fly? Oh, yes, he did!

Little flew at 61 days! Way to go Little. Beautiful take off.

We are on pip watch at many nests including Boulder County.

And the Port of Ridgefield. Indeed, there are approximately 36 osprey nests that could have hatches this week. A similar number for the following week. Thanks for reminding me ‘BHA’.

Dad brought in a whopper of a cot rail at PSEG Oyster Bay on Long Island.

‘AE’ sent great captures of JBS20 visiting the nest with one of the adults on Saturday! Lovely to see this fledgling eagle thriving.

‘MP’ wonders if anyone has seen a sparrow this close to an osprey? This Male must know that Ospreys only eat fish!

Question: How many are watching this nest? And how is little three doing?

No sound at the Dyfi nest of Idris and Telyn or we would be able to hear the chicks that are ready to hatch – or have hatched. Waiting!

Louis continues to be the great provider we know he is for Dorcha.

At Rutland, Blue 33 is working on the cot rails and looking out with Only Bob to see what Mum Maya is doing.

While Blue tends to his baby, Mum at Port Lincoln would like Bradley to move on. Oh, gosh. Bradley reminds me of Ervie so much! Nice to see you Bradley even if you are irritating Mum.

In Europe, storks have died because of the torrential rains in certain regions. The pouring pitching cold rain and wind continues in Manitoba as it is at the Outerbanks nest of Betsy and Frederick. They have little osplets. Send positive wishes to all nests impacted by rain or fish shortage.

Betsy is doing a heroic job of keeping the wee ones dry and warm so far.

At Lake Murray, Little had a good day. Kenny is amazing. So much fish – whole, headless – almost back to back. Incredible and that is why this third hatch is doing so very, very well. Lots of fish delivered close together. I counted the bites along with ‘H’ and despite some intimidation, Little fared well. The third hatch is clever often moving about the nest to get in a better position. One thing I have noticed is that Lucy does the fish and when she does this, Little often losses out. But, Little did well. Smile.

Crops from various times of the day for Little.

Our friend and monitor of all things Australian does not like to watch Osprey nests but she has fallen for Little Bob at Lake Murray and she wanted to add her ‘ten cents’ to what happened on Saturday. ‘A’ we always welcome your narrative – thanks so much!

Late yesterday afternoon (18 May) was interesting at Lake Murray. Dad brought in a nice big whole fresh fish at around 06:02pm. Little Bob was sleeping right in front of mum while the two older siblings (whose plumage btw has changed in a single weekend into something speckled and gorgeous – their camouflage is amazing) were napping together. Little Bob, who has a discernible but not a large crop, thought he was in for a private feeding, but mum just took the fish from dad and stood there with it. She turned around a couple of steps in mid-nest, then heads to the far side of the nest. Little Bob follows her, but mum is distracted. 

Eventually, the older pair awake. As they do, we can see that they both have extremely large crops. Little Bob is still standing next to mum, begging for food, but she is just standing on the fish with one foot. Eventually an older sibling gets up, turns around and surveys the scene. He sees Little Bob waiting expectantly beside mum, who has fish. S/he makes no attempt to attack Little Bob, who decides it’s a good idea to head around behind mum to the other side. 

The larger sibling heads over and begins trying to open the fish at the head end, working on the mouth and doing a really good job. This continues for a few minutes before eventually, at 06:05:50, Little Bob, who is behind mum, stands up and looks the other older sibling squarely in the eye. This is surely a mistake, which he will quickly correct, no?

No! Little Bob not only continues to look his sibling in the eye but then lunges right across the nest to bonk his much bigger sibling! This takes the older chick very much by surprise. The reaction is predictable. But Little Bob, although beating a hasty retreat, is only protecting his head (he has such a long neck, this is not too difficult now he has grown to a size where he can lean far enough away) – he is not cowering in terror. He does eventually tuck but he does not duck his head under – he keeps it up and just away from his sibling, who has failed to make any real contact with him anyway, as its crop is so large, it cannot reach across it to hurt Little Bob.  

Meanwhile, the self-feeding osplet continues to self-feed on the head, pulling from the mouth and getting some good bites from the cheek area. aT 06:06:15 mum finally starts feeding one of the older osplets. The second desists from worrying about Little Bob and comes to be fed too. This leaves Little Bob behind mum and the two feeding siblings. As the food is close to the edge of the nest, there is really absolutely no real way he can now get fed until mum and/or one of the siblings moves.

It is 06:20 before Little Bob gets up, turns around and heads back to the centre of the nest to survey the feeding situation. Both his siblings have huge crops. Mum has been eating a bit of this fish herself too. Still no room on the feeding line, as Big Bob has a piece of fish it is self-feeding on. Little Bob actually considers rushing this fish but gets a death stare from its older sibling and thinks better of it, turning around and retreating a few steps. 

Little Bob cannot find a way to mum’s beak. Big Bob is occupied. Middle Bob is between Big Bob and mum, so Little Bob heads around behind mum to try and reach the far side of her. There’s not much room here. They are near the edge of the nest. It takes him a while to figure out how to come forward, over the baby rails, to reach mum’s beak. Eventually, he clambers over the rails precariously. He is close, if she turns her head his way. But will she? She is eating most of the fish herself and has been for a couple of minutes now. It is 06:22:30pm. 

Mum knows Little Bob is in position. At 06:22:38 she reaches down and to her right, back under her wing, to give Little Bob his first bite of this feeding. She keeps feeding him. Big Bob lumbers off, hardly able to carry its crop. Middle Bob remains on the other side of mum to Little Bob, watching closely as she feeds its younger sibling. Mum feeds Middle a couple of bites, then returns to Little Bob. Middle gives up and leaves the table. The fish has very nearly gone. It is 06:24. Little downs the tail. Mum feeds him the last remaining pieces – some of those bits of flesh near the tail are very juicy – and picks up every flake she can find for him. By 06:25 the meal is over. 

But Little Bob is still begging for fish and mum searches some more. She finds the leftover Big Bob had been playing with and works hard to get pieces off it that Little Bob can eat. He gets some small bites. He continues to beg for more. Shortly after 06:28 she flies off the nest. 

Little did not get to eat much of what was after all a huge fish. He did start the feeding with a visible crop, and went to bed with a full tummy. Unless a food disaster (such as occurs when a parent goes missing) occurs at this nest, I become more confident by the day that my prediction here is correct. This youngest hatch is SO brave. It may even be female based on the behaviour. Today’s effort was amazing. Little Bob stared down an older sibling and then rushed across the nest in an obviously intimidatory manner (which even the older sibling didn’t take seriously initially) and started a major fight. This is not a cowed osplet. It is smart enough not to get beaten up but it is certainly not being terrorised and it has a crop every time I look at the stream. 

This one is going to do fine. Mark my words. I’m sorry to bang on so much about it, but this is one really cute little osplet. I fell for this one immediately and have been very confident about it all along, despite the difficulties and the aggression, mainly because of its own attitude. Never has this little one given me the impression that it has given up, only that it is scheming for another moment, another chance, another bite to eat. It has the longest neck, which sure doesn’t hurt in these situations, and it has a determined streak that really suggests that it could actually be a female. It would not surprise me in the slightest. 

The older two osplets have actually become relatively laidback at this point, and there is nothing to say that the older sibling would have bonked Little Bob for the staring incident late yesterday afternoon had he not rushed across the nest to attack it. So I think the aggressive phase on this nest has passed, and as long as the fish supply continues and Little Bob does not make a habit out of deliberately provoking its older siblings,everything will be absolutely fine and this nest will fledge three this season. Talons crossed.” 

‘H’ caught the Sunday morning events for us – sadly, we probably do not have to worry about Little Bob’s survival from the siblings now, but rather from the GHO that is waiting for them to fatten up. “

The camera was zoomed way out, and we could see that Lucy spent about 4 hours on the perch overnight.  Sadly, I suppose we are on ‘owl watch’.

0614 Kenney delivered a fish.  It was rather difficult to tell from our vantage point, but Little appeared to eat for about 3 minutes until he was intimidated and moved aside.  At 0627 Little was back at the feeding line until one of the siblings returned at 0630.  At 0635 both older siblings had moved away, and Little ate for 3 minutes more.  So, Little was fed for about 9 minutes at this meal.

Kenny brought in a headless fish at 0700 and feeding commenced at 0701.  Little ate for about a minute until he was intimidated, but appeared to still be able to reach toward Lucy’s beak once in a while.  At 0711 Lucy started to reach out, and fairly consistently fed Little until 0718.  Little ate for roughly 10 minutes at this meal and had a nice crop after the back-to-back feedings.”

The GHO is constantly attacking the female at Moraine Park – these owls are smart. Please take a screen capture of Cowlitz PUD’s solution and send it to the owners of any nests that you are aware are having predation issues by owls, eagles, goshawks, etc. Thank you.

The trio of osplets at Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home appear to be hanging in there and doing well. We are NOT at the Reptilian phase when the bonking normally begins (8-11 days) – and so I hope that there is lots of fish and these are well behaved.

Beautiful Big Red, N1, and N2. Another great raptor dad, Arthur.

All four storklets at Bolewice are doing well.

Despite Olivia incubating, the eggs at Severna Park, they have been left too long and they have been rained on. I want to thank everyone for their comments regarding this nest. From the observations by the writer below, this sounds to me like Oscar has another nest with a different family and has abandoned Olivia and her eggs. For those of you that have watched Louis and Iris, you would be familiar with this type of behaviour by the male. It is extremely sad but please let us hope that Olivia moves on to find a new attentive mate next season.

I thought I would share one of the letters with you – I have withheld the author’s name. I feel very protective of those that send me information, comments, and news and do not ever wish for there to be any kind of backlash against them. It is the same as a report protecting their source.

Dear Ms. Steggles: 

I’m pleased to inform you that Oscar did not meet his demise in the middle of the highway, struck by a semi truck, while chasing that flying fish.  He flew to the nest a couple of hours ago, mated, and then he left, lol.  No fish!  Olivia went fishing for herself again.

Oscar should be hanging his head! What about all this business of raptors mating for life? Goodness, gracious.

Only Bob at Carthage continues to thrive being the sole ‘diamond’ in his/her parents eyes.

‘H’ is monitoring the Captiva nest and reports: “5/18 Captiva Ospreys – 0833, First feeding, a whole hardhead catfish.  CO7 ate, then moved away from Edie at 0847, but CO8 was reluctant to move after having been beaked earlier.  CO8 finally moved to Edie at 0849, ate 11 bites of fish, and was then beaked repeatedly.  CO7 ate some more, and had retired from the feeding at 0913, so CO8 moved up and ate the last three bites of the fish.  CO8 had eaten 14 bites of fish.

The second feeding at 1136, consisted of a small whole pinfish.  CO7 ate, and prevented CO8 from eating.

At 1300 Jack delivered a nice size partial speckled trout.  CO8 was intimidated and stayed back.  When CO7 moved away from Edie, CO7 was again reluctant to approach, and Edie stopped the feeding. Edie resumed feeding CO7 at 1310, and when CO8 approached at 1316 he suffered a prolonged beaking by CO7.  Edie stopped the feeding.  CO8 did not eat at this meal.

Feeding #4 at 1358, Edie picked up the large leftover piece of trout and fed CO8 for 19 minutes!  CO7 stayed in the shade of Mom’s tail, and did not interfere.

Feeding #5 at 1639 consisted of a whole pilchard delivered by Jack.  It was a harmonious ten- minute feeding, both osplets ate, and both had large crops.

The last feeding of the day was from 1805 to 1821, and was a partial speckled trout brought by Jack.  CO7 ate first, and CO8 waited his turn.  There was no aggression by CO7.  At 1812, CO7 backed away and CO8 moved up to eat.  Three minutes later, CO7 returned, then the chicks ate peacefully side by side. “

Dr Ericke Green has finished his teaching responsibilities for now and is focused – and clearly excited – about the events at Iris’s nest. Here he explains about the egg tossing that New Guy did and why.

On Saturday, Bradley brought a squid to the barge nest at Port Lincoln instead of a puffer. How interesting! Way to go, Bradley.

Will this year be the season when Hope reigns? Is it possible for us to ‘hope’ that Hope, the female at Newfoundland Power’s Snow Lane Osprey platform dubbed the ‘Hopeless Nest’ will feed her chicks so they live and fledge?

The rain has stopped at Patchogue and the little ones are good.

The paper, sign, or whatever human garbage was covering the egg cup at Patchogue is now gone. Thankfully.

Oh, tears. ‘T’ just sent me the best news for Black Storks: “Waba is in Estonia! Yesterday he flew 253 km, and now he is at the Saaremaa island. Data shows 7804 km This is the distance that Waba covered after transmitter activation this year.”

Oh, I would hope we get some news about Bonus.

We have the first hatch at Great Bay today at 1345. The top images shows the parents looking at the hatch in progress.

Welcome little one.

Thank you so much for being with me this morning. Please take care. Enjoy your weekend – go outside and listen to the birds! We hope to see you again soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, posts, images, streaming cams, and videos that helped me to write my post this morning: ‘A, AE, BHA, Geemeff, H, MP, PB, TU’, Heidi McGrue and Moorings Park, Frenchman’s Creek, ParksConservancy, SK Hideaways, VGCCO, Boulder County, Port of Ridgefield, PSEG, Dyfi Osprey Project, Geemeff, LRWT, PLO, OBX Osprey Cam, Lake Murray, Maryland Western Shore Old Town Home, Cornell RTH, Bolewice Stork am, Severna Park, DTC- Carthage, Window to Wildlife, Montana Osprey Cam, Newfoundland Power, and Great Bay Ospreys.

Saturday in Bird World

18 May 2024

Good Morning Everyone,

We are having another severe weather alert with intense rain, potential hail, and high winds. The ground is absolutely water logged. When I went for my walk today at the nature centre, the trails were partially flooded. Mind you the trees will grow, the grass is green, and potential for fires is low.

Baby Hope – she melts my heart. Her first birthday is coming up on 2 July and this time last year I was so busy trying to coax her Mamma, Calico, to being friendly. It all worked out. Baby Hope is the sweetest thing.

Hugo Yugo is a character. She loves nothing more than to snuggle under my chin and sleep there all night and sometimes during the day if a nap is in store. She is curious to the extreme and her and Missey will be the ones getting into mischief – not Hope or Calico. They are angels.

Hugo Yugo is still very tiny. She is nine months old! She must be finished growing – so nice. I will have a large kitten for years to come!

A wonderful and informative message and a reminder to vote on the New Guy’s name from Dr Erick Greene.

I think Dr Greene is really excited about ‘The New Guy’. Now – tell the truth – we all are, right? Whoever dreamed Iris would have a loving, dutiful, caring mate again? It is exciting! I never wanted Iris to have chicks again because they would starve to death or be predated. This summer just feels so hopeful.

The lovely couple.

It is all about falcons. Cilla Kinross gives us the first look at the feeding at the Montreal scrape.

Waiting for names at Cal Falcons.

One of Annie and Archie’s chicks is very intelligent and lively.

Copy cat. Another decided to venture out, too! Tomorrow all four will be wandering around – just wait and see!

‘A’ loves the Cal Falcons and Annie: “

These nests are such a joy to watch. At Cal Falcons this afternoon (17 May), the mid-afternoon feeding began with the older pair, but finally, our wee lad joined in, and immediately Annie began feeding him. Number three was last to the table, and Annie began feeding him too (I believe the boys to be the two younger chicks, though I could be wrong about number three). She tries to feed three and four exclusively, but four is very close to number one and number two, who sometimes grab bites Annie intends for the youngest. But to the best of her ability, she feeds the younger two, knowing the older pair have already had a fair amount. 

She does this at every meal. As a result, the chicks are not in a rush to get to the table and all compete for bites at the same time. Rather, their confidence in mum to feed them is so great that they feel they’ll be okay as long as they get there while food remains. She is giving them the chance at a little self-feeding now, leaving a few scraps on the scrape occasionally for them to pick at, which they do. But effectively, these skills are secondary for falcons, who are not going to be scavengers as juveniles like the eaglets do. They will have to master a particularly difficult and dangerous hunting technique if they are to survive as juveniles, and there’s not really overly much they can learn about that in the nest, is there. “

Monty and Hartley raise some impressive chicks – often quite aggressive. Do you remember Soledad?

At Amersfoort, Smallie was right up at Mum’s beak or a nice feeding. Smallie is getting its feathers and will catch up! Can you see that full crop on that wee little one? Please take heart. Unless something terribly untoward happens, this little baby is going to fledge!

‘H’ reports on Lake Murray: “At 1048 Lucy arrived at the nest with a very small whole fish.  Little did not get any.

Kenny brought a large whole fish at 1053.  Little tried to position himself to Lucy’s left side away from the sibs, but was beaked.  He was intimidated or beaked several times to keep him away from Lucy.  At 1130, the fish was gone, the others had moved away, and Little was fed one bite before Lucy ate the tail.

At 1337 Kenny delivered a large whole fish, Little rushed to Lucy and the other chicks stayed back for a while.  Little ate 12 bites, before Lucy moved to a new position, which left Little at the back of the pack.  The older chicks ate, and they prevented Little from getting up to the line.  Little finally worked his way to the other side of Lucy, and he ate the last 3 bites of fish before Lucy ate the tail. Total for Little = 15 bites.

At 1447 Kenny brought in another large whole fish, which looked like the same species as the last fish.  Little was positioned on Lucy’s right and the other two chicks to her left, but those two did not seem very hungry.  Little was fed almost exclusively during this meal, with a few more bites going to Middle the latter third of of the feeding.  And, Big did not try to eat until near the very end, when he/she was behind Lucy, and was fed between Lucy’s legs.  Little ate for 28 minutes straight.

Kenny delivered a medium sized whole fish at 1538.  All three osplets still had big crops, and none were very hungry.  Little had eaten 12 bites of fish by 1542 then he moved away.  At 1547 Little returned to the table and had eaten a total of 28 bits of fish, when he was beaked by Big.  Then, Middle and Big ate, and Little seemed content to lay down and take a nap.  Meal over at 1601.

1719, Kenny brought a half a fish to the nest.  None of the osplets rushed to be fed, but they eventually gathered around Lucy.  The bossy twins were to Lucy’s left, and Little was to Lucy’s right, and out of our view.  Everyone got bites, including Little, as we observed Lucy reaching over to that side with fish bits many times.”

I love the look on Little’s face when he has Mum and the fish all to himself at Lake Murray.

‘H’ reports for Saturday at Lake Murray: “First feeding 0704 to 0714, small whole fish, one bite for Little. Second feeding 0737 to 0740, very small whole fish, one bite for Little. Third feeding 0844 to 0906, medium sized whole fish – Little was positioned to the right rear of Lucy and was fed both from her right side and through her legs.  Total of 53 bites for Little.

Returning two year old Ospreys. 5H1 from the very first clutch of CJ7 and Blue 022, the translocated programme at Poole Harbour, was seen in Pool Harbour and now at the Usk Valley in South Wales.

‘H’ spent a lot of time monitoring the nests that are in trouble today and Captiva was one of them. CO8 needed fish! Here is her report: “5/17 – Captiva Osprey Nest: 0726,  Jack delivered a very small whole sheepshead, CO7 ate, and prevented CO8 from eating.  1137, Jack brought a small whole pinfish, CO7 ate, and prevented CO8 from eating.  1520, Jack delivered a small whole pinfish, CO7 ate, and prevented CO8 from eating.  1554, Jack brought a small whole pinfish, CO7 ate, and prevented CO8 from eating.  

And, then it happened…  1607 Edie went fishing and brought back a whole gafftopsail catfish…enough to feed everyone.  CO8 made a beeline to Mom and had a private feeding for 39 minutes!  Eat-a-lot, eat-a-lot, crop-drop-crop-drop, eat-a-lot, eat-a-lot, crop-drop-crop-drop, eat-a-lot.  At 1647 CO7 decided it was time for CO8 to stop eating, and beaked him (a lot).  CO7 was more interested in harassing CO8 at that point than eating.  Edie was hungry, and she ate.  At 1709 CO7 ate some more, then walked away from Edie at 1718.  CO8 then had another 8 minute private feeding, and probably had the biggest crop of his young life.  At 1750 Edie found some catfish scraps, and fed them to CO8.”

Thank goodness for a big catfish. CO8 got a nice feeding – which it desperately needed. Just look at that crop on CO7!

There are three and you can finally see them reasonably well at the Patuxent River Part I nest.

Louis is continuing to work on those cot rails at Loch Arkaig. Wonder where he found this? We are two days away from hatch watch at Loch Arkaig.

I wonder if the RAF jets disturb the ospreys? Geemeff says that there were five yesterday instead of the usual two.

We are a day away from hatch watch at the Dyfi Osprey nest of Idris and Telyn.

Four days from hatch at Poole Harbour!

More than a week until we can expect a hatch from Aran and Elen’s eggs at Glaslyn.

Dad brought a really nice fish to Mum and the chicks at Patchogue and proceeded to block the feeding! Gosh, golly. These two are just amazing parents and Dad is still fishing crazy even though he doesn’t have four chicks to feed this year.

Sadly, there are problems at Severna Park. I did not see a male bring fish all day on Friday. The female left the eggs unattended – she has to eat! Where are you Oscar? Are you pulling a Louis? For this nest to be successful – like all of them – the female relies on the male to bring her fish and later to her and the chicks she cares for. Without that, her health would diminish, and she would have to leave the nest. It would be impossible for Olivia to carry on. I hope that she abandons the eggs and has a lovely summer.

I saw a post that said that a car might have hit Oscar. Seriously. How many ospreys have you seen on the pavement? Carrion eaters like eagles, crows, hawks, etc., get killed because they get on the roads, as do geese and ducks crossing the highways, lanes, and boulevards, but Ospreys! Really.

Should we be concerned about the US Osprey population this year? Last year, in the NE United States, only a handful of nests had chicks fledged. The cause was the June storm and the overfishing of the Menhaden. Individuals monitoring nests in Maryland and New Jersey that are not on YouTube inform me that they hope 40% have a single chick fledge. At least 60% of the monitored nests are without eggs or bonded pairs. This is a considerable change. We have seen Barnegat Light fail, and now it looks like Severna will follow suit. Do you know of others?

The ‘Only Bob’ at Carthage is being fed well by its attentive parents.

Little Bob at Venice Golf and Country Club is the only one who has yet to fledge. He is getting good air on Friday and the hovers are improving. Look for a flight soon!

Colonial Beach has its first egg as of Friday 17 May.

At Carova Beach, Betsy and Frederick have two chicks. One is twice as large as the other. The third egg has not hatched. Betsy does stretch to get that little one some fish. Makes me slightly nervous.

The couple at Hammonasset have their third egg on the 17th.

It was a beautiful day at the Bridge Golf Club Osprey platform.

Keke and Leo continue to exchange incubation duties at Sandpoint.

Everything is looking good at Cowlitz PUD including those fine and simple metal fish grates to protect the nest from predation from the local Bald Eagles. I am always grateful for the concern that Cowlitz PUD expressed for their birds and the efforts they made to protect them. Why aren’t we seeing this at other platforms? It was proven to work last year. Simple. Drill a hole in the platform. Insert a metal pole attached to the fish grid. It is that simple.

Port of Ridgefield still looking good.

We are on hatch watch for Green Bay, NH ospreys!

The nest at Oceanside MNSA Osprey nest is so full of human garbage and there are three little ones. One of them is quite tiny. Is anyone watching this nest? And if so, could you please send me news. (Thanks)

The first egg hatched at BUND-Goitzshe on the 16th while the second hatched on the 17th. We wait to see about the third egg.

When tragedy strikes an Osprey nest, does the news spread and there are no takers and it stays abandoned? Certainly I have seen that in a certain area of my province. Then there is the Cape Henlopen State Park platform where tragedy struck two years ago when the Dad was killed, the Mum fought intruding ospreys trying to protect her three feathered babies, to no avail. The chicks starved on the live stream. The couple left and didn’t return. It was all for nothing.

Beaumont and Hope are at the Snow Lane, Newfoundland Osprey platform. No eggs yet. The female that had been at the nest earlier has dispersed.

I wonder how big the Red-tail Hawk nest is at Syracuse? It looks small – what an advantage big Red’s kids have to work their legs on that grid of the light stand. It is like having a private runway!

There is likely to be a shortage of squirrels on the Cornell Campus. Arthur seems intent on covering the nest with them for N1 and N2. The feathers are coming in nicely and the ears are now covered. The eyases are looking out to the larger world. In June they will fly. Hard to believe.

Please, please prevent window strike. For a couple of dollars you can get Crayon Window Markers and reveal the artist you need knew you were. If you are handy you can take a thin strip of wood the width of your window. Drill holes every 5 cm or 2 inches. Run a nylon cord – I have only seen grey and black used – and tie it tight making sure it is the length of your window. Do this for every hole and attach to the outside of your window. This is what they use at our nature centre along with the Feather Friendly window dots. Or you can apply the Feather Friendly window dots. They say they last ten years. Mine are a year old and still fine. Everything goes on the OUTSIDE of the window not the inside. You need a lot of butterfly or hawk decals as the spacing needs to be every 5 cm or 2 inches to prevent strikes.

Do it so this doesn’t happen!

One of the things that we might possibly forget are the food chains that support our bird populations. Without insects, many birds are seeing swift population declines, particularly smaller birds. Without those smaller birds, some of our raptors do not have prey. Their numbers drop. I think you get the picture. Modern agricultural practices are certainly to blame but looking closer to home it is those perfect green gardens, the sprays used on your roses to keep the ‘bugs’ off that kill the small birds. We need to begin to think of our gardens as meadows instead of golf courses. Imagine walking out and picking your own wildflower bouquet for your table. It could happen. For now, encourage people to be pesticide free, please.

Swallow-swift-and-house-martin-populations-have-nearly-halved-finds-UK-bird-survey-Birds-The-GDownload

Thank you so much for being with me today. Take care! See you soon.

Thank you to the following for their notes, comments, observations, videos, articles, images, and streaming cams that helped me to write my post today: ‘A, Geemeff, H, PB’, Montana Osprey Cams, Montana Osprey Project, Cilla Kinross, Cal Falcons, Amersfoort Falcons, Lake Murray Ospreys, Birds of Poole Harbour, Window to Wildlife, Patuxent River Park, Geemeff, Dyfi Osprey Project, Poole Harbour Ospreys, Bywyd Gwylld Glaslyn, PSEG, Severna Park, DTC- Carthage Ospreys, VGCCO, Colonial Beach Ospreys, OBX Osprey Cam, Bridge Golf Club Ospreys, Sandpoint Ospreys, Cowlitz PUD, Port of Ridgefield, Cape Henlopen State Park, Syracuse RTH, Cornell RTH, Acadia Wildlife, and The Guardian.

Thursday in Bird World

16 May 2024

Good Morning,

It was miserable today. We have had rain and rain and are almost water-logged. I recall the day I begged for rain, but now we could have a week break! I went for two different short walks. The first was around an area known as the Sturgeon Park Greenway. The first thing that I saw was a group of twenty little goslings! One family was doing gosling day care while the other adults foraged.

There was a lovely little waterfall.

Red-wing Blackbirds were everywhere. I love their song.

I only saw this male Mallard.

I had not been to The Leaf for a few weeks. The Leaf is a huge conservatory at our zoo. It has a tropical area, a Meditteranean area, a special floral area that changes regularly, and a butterfly garden. It was a wonderful day in the Butterfly area! The last time I went, I did not see one butterfly. Today there were so many and they were active.

The only one that I recognised was this Blue Morph.

Oh, and yes, this is the Red Postman. The others I did not know.

My goodness, Bird World happenings just aren’t slowing down. The intervention at Rutland, the banding of the Cal Falcons, and then the banding of the eyases in The Netherlands, a fledge or two…endless delights. Even Little got a nice feed at Lake Murray!

That Bob is a toughie at Rutland. Tossed off the nest, rescued and then smacked with a stick. It is still alive, thank goodness. How would you put that if you were doing their ‘baby’ book?

Here is the banding video if you missed it at Cal Falcons.

If you are interested in Peregrine Falcons – it doesn’t matter what region of the world they are living – the Q & A after the banding is really informative. “A little squirming pillow in your hand, they are super duper soft” (Sean). I really recommend that you grab a cuppa and listen because you will learn so much! Great questions this year like how to peregrine falcons decide on where to have their nest? Do they predate Crows? What do they eat? Why not HPAI vaccination?

Names are now on the Cal Falcons FB, Twitter, etc – think of four names that fit together and have a theme. Heart the ones you like to make a short list!

‘H’ and I have been sounding an alarm over the osprey population decline in the US for the past two years. One of our researchers ‘VV’ is monitoring ten nests from their home in Maryland. Those nests are not on streaming cams, but they give us good insight into the current issues this year. One nest has recently had its eggs stomped by Canada Geese. Other bonded pairs are not bonded but divorcing putting the breeding season at risk. We hope that two of the ten nests will have fledglings.

Michael Academia has been discussing the Menhaden issue. Others have noted it. I want a moratorium on the fishing especially by the big net trawlers. It does not matter if the population appears stable – it isn’t. Few chicks last year and the same possibility this year. This can prove critical in 2-4 years.

Researchers-Sound-the-Alarm-Over-the-Chesapeake-Bays-Ospreys-AudubonDownload

At Kent Island, ‘H’ reports it appears the Tom and Audrey will not have any osplets this year. “Kent Island (Chesapeake) osprey nest of Audrey and Tom:  Things have just been ‘off’ this season for Audrey and Tom.  Audrey was inattentive to her first egg in April and the egg was predated by a crow.  Audrey did not lay a second egg and then she took a hiatus, and was not seen on cam for several days.  Audrey and Tom returned and Audrey laid the first egg of their second clutch on 5/8.  A second egg was laid on 5/11, but immediately broke.  Over the past few days Tom has brought Audrey very few fish.  Audrey finally left the nest in the early evening of 5/15, presumably to fish.  She and Tom were both at the nest a little later. Tom left, and Audrey left the nest again at 19:52.  She did not return to incubate the egg overnight.”

The eggs are hatching at the Montreal Peregrine Falcon scape. The first one has hatched this morning!

While we have strong concerns over the depleting osprey population due to overfishing, loss of habitat, and loss of mates, they are having a bit of a different experience in Finland. this was posted in the chat on the Juurusesi Saaksilvie streaming cam on Wednesday:

“Good news from the other nests in Juurusvesi: all nine are nesting! Two nests in new artificial nests and ONE COMPLETELY NEW!. At all three nests in Karhenvesi, nesting is also fast!”

The feeding of the Outerbanks Chick:

Johnson City eaglet fledges on Wednesday.

Prepping. If you see a raptor lower their head, do a PS, there is a distinct possibility they are going to fly. And this one did! JC23 has not returned to the nest. Send good wishes. JC24 has yet to fledge.

‘H’ kept good track of Lake Murray today:

“At 1424 Kenny delivered a live largemouth bass.  Lucy was distracted, and the feeding did not start until 1428.  The feeding was very slow going for a while as Lucy dealt with the tough fish head.  Little was positioned to Lucy’s left and the older sibs to her right.  This tactic worked amazingly well in Little’s favor, and s/he was able to get many bites of fish.  Usually one of the siblings would nip this arrangement in the bud, and reach behind Lucy and put an end to it, but not this time.  All three were fed in this manner for a long time, but Lucy eventually shifted to her left and Little was displaced, forcing him to reach between Lucy’s legs for bites, and this worked!  Lucy fed Little many bites through her legs. There was some beaking of Little toward the end of the feeding, and Little was placed in ‘time-out’ by Big, but soon Big retired from the feeding, and Little was back, and eating beside Middle.  The feeding lasted until 1514, and Little ate at least 123 bites of fish.”

“At 1619 Kenny brought a headless fish to the nest.  All three osplets still had big crops from the last feeding.  Little ate a couple of bites initially, then was beaked.  The older siblings both beaked Little intermittently, even though Little was not near Lucy.  But, by 1651 they had both dropped out of the feeding and Little ate until 1654.  Little had about 46 bites of fish at this meal.”

Morning report from Lake Murray from ‘H’: “

5/16 – Lake Murray osprey nest – Kenny brought a large headless fish to the nest for breakfast.  Little was intimidated, but managed to grab a couple bites now and then.  When Big dropped out at 0640, Little crept up near Middle, but Middle gave him the ‘stink eye’, like “Don’t even think about it, Kid.”  At 0647 Middle beaked Little, but at 0648 Middle left the table, and Big returned to eat some more.  At 0656 Big was finally sated, moved away, Little had a nice little private feeding for 8 minutes, and had eaten at least 78 bites of fish.

This is not a photogenic nest, especially in the morning, lol.

See the second screenshot of the chat this morning.  There is a tragedy in the making here, I think.  But, I hope I’m wrong.   See the statement:  “All we can do is hope, and pray, and wait.”   You know that was not true… they could have done more in the off-season, as you had recommended.”

As ‘H’ indicates, the owners of the Osprey platform at Lake Murray were made aware, several times, of the fish grids that Cowlitz PUD attached to their platform to prevent predation. It is very sad. The GHOs will sit and wait for their opportunity. Why would they move? They didn’t move at the Pritchett Property but the eagles were able to defend. Ospreys can’t.

‘H’ also reports on the Audubon Boathouse. “5/15 – The Audubon Boathouse osprey nest of Dory and Skiff: Dory laid their third egg at approximately 09:00.”

‘H’ reports on Captiva: “

5/15 Captiva Ospreys:  Fishing was uncharacteristically slow for Jack the first part of the day, but improved later on.  Hence, it wasn’t the best of days for CO8.  CO7 is 22 days, CO8 is 20 days old, and CO7 is still dominant.  At the first meal of the day (0806), a large catfish, CO8 managed to eat intermittently for a total of 17 minutes, despite CO7 preventing him from eating at times.  The second feeding did not take place until more than six hours later, and it was only a small needlefish, so CO8 was not able to eat at that meal.  The third feeding, a snapper at 1518, only lasted for 6 minutes, and CO8 only managed to eat for about one minute at that meal.  Jack delivered another snapper at 1553, and that feeding lasted about 20 minutes.  Being so close to the previous fish delivery, CO8 fared a little better at this feeding, and managed to eat for a total of 8 minutes.  Jack brought a headless catfish for the final feeding of the day at 1926.  CO8 managed two private feedings of 14 minutes and 6 minutes.  CO8 ate fish for a total of roughly 46 minutes today.

So, life is difficult for this youngest nestling, as it often is on osprey nests.  But, the situation is not dire for CO8 (when compared to the situation that Tuffy at Moorings Park faced several weeks ago, or that C3 is now potentially facing at Lake Murray).”

Watching for hatch at Clark PUD.

Tuffy and Ruffie have been getting really good height with all their flapping. Some nice hovers by both. Fledgling is really near. Which one will be first?

Chicks at Patchogue doing well.

The single chick at Carthage was well fed on Wednesday. ‘H’ saw at least six feedings. Fantastic.

Still one hatch at Mlade Buky nest of Bety and Bukacek.

The most beautiful stork landed in Karl II’s nest in the Karula National Forest in Estonia. The young ones are returning. Might Bonus or Waba make this their nest?

Four beautiful black storklets in Poland at Bolewice.

Still incubating osprey eggs in the Ramuka Forest.

The two White-Tailed eaglets in the Bory Tucholskie Forest in Poland are doing well also. Just look at those crops! I am so pleased that once again there is plentiful food for two babies.

Three beautiful storks in the Lodzi Forest.

Where storklets hatching elsewhere, too, in Poland – these are in Zastawki!

There is serious concern for the Moraine Park Osprey platform which has been continually attacked by a GHO.

It is untrue that Ospreys tolerate humans well. Nests fail. Note the warning from Tweed Valley.

Thank you for being with us today. Please take care. See you soon!

Thank you to the following for their notes, posts, comments, videos, on line sessions, and streaming cams that helped me to write my blog this morning: ‘Geemeff, H, PB, VV’ Geemeff, Cal Falcons. Audubon, UniMFalcons, Finnish Osprey Foundation, Outerbanks, Johnson City-ETSU, Lake Murray Ospreys, Audubon Boathouse, Clark PUD, Moorings Park Ospreys, PSEG, Chesapeake Conservancy, Captiva Osprey New (WoW), Carthage-DTC, Mlade Buky, Eagle Club of Estonia, Black Stork On Line Bolewice, Ospreys on Line Ramucka Forest, White Tale Eagle On line Tucholskie Forest, Lodzi Black Storks On Line, Bocian Zastawki, Moraine State Park Ospreys, and Tweed Valley Osprey Project.